Bourgogne Rouge ‘Les Chazelles’

HISTORY  Maxime’s family for years sold their fruit to the local cooperative winery. In 2018, Maxime was able to take some of his family’s land under his own control to farm organically, with the help of his mentor Vincent Dureuil-Janthial. Maxime’s relationship with his family’s Montagny vineyards remains in flux; generational changes within family wineries are seldom easy, yet Maxime’s early successes have assuaged family members’ concerns, and they now are more confident that his vision is indeed one that should be encouraged.

 

Grape growing here is as natural as possible, and Maxime is seeking organic certification for the vineyards he manages. He uses no chemical inputs and is working to tend his vines as gently as possible. For example, Maxime is experimenting with a practice in which one doesn’t hedge the tops of vines to control growth (rognage, in French) but braids them together (tressage, a practice that Cyprien Arlaud at Domaine Arlaud, one of the Cote d’Or’s leading biodynamic estates and North Berkeley partner, is also exploring). All actions in the vineyard and cellar follow the lunar calendar.

Grapes are harvested by hand in small crates, sorted in the fields and again in the cellar. A slow, gentle press follows; wines are fermented either in stainless steel tank or in French oak barrels, with little to no added sulfites. Aging is long, between 18 to 20 months, in barrel, followed by an additional six months in tank before bottling.

VINEYARDS & WINEMAKING   A pretty Pinot Noir with flavorful heft and grace, grown on exemplary terroir in the south of Montagny. Here the “mother rock” of limestone is just inches from the surface; rubied fruit, stony tension, impressive length.