Description
Les Gravières sits on the top half of the slope in Santenay, very near the Chassagne-Montrachet border. The vines are 45 and over 70 years old. The soil is gravelly, with many small rocks over Argovian marl, which Andrew Nielsen compares to some of Volnay’s special plots, and which shaped how he made the wine.
The fruit is hand-harvested and chilled overnight to keep the clusters firm. 95% is fermented whole cluster and 5% destemmed, with native yeasts and no sulfur. The wine is pressed on day 13, then ages one year in 300-liter oak barrels on fine lees. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered. 6 barrels, or 1,776 bottles, were made.
Jancis Robinson MW noted sweet, pure fruit with freshness and sandy tannins on the finish.
Andrew and Emma Nielsen founded Le Grappin in 2011. They source from the same organically farmed single parcels every year, work without additions, and bottle everything by hand. Named one of The 10 Best Unsung Burgundy Producers by Wine-Searcher.
