Description
Notes from JancisRobinson.com
Notes from Le Grappin winemaker Andrew Nielsen:
Vineyard
From a 60 year old parcel of Pinot Noir, in my favourite villages climat for Pinot Noir in Savigny-lès-Beaune, “Aux Fournaux”. With the vineyard being located at the base of the slope, which provides better sunlight interception and drainage than most villages parcels in Savigny-lès-Beaune, the wine has fine definition and weight for a villages appellation wine. “Aux Fournaux” is also at the junction with Pernand-Vergelesses and Aloxe-Corton, with racy fruits from the former and rocky tannins from the later. A very complex villages site!
Vinification
Hand picked and sorted for over 8 hours to ensure only the best fruit made it to the fermenter. 80% of the grapes were destemmed with the remaining 20% placed on top as whole cluster in a wooden vat. Dry ice was used to cool the fruit to 12ºC and to protect the berries against oxidation. Natural fermentation with just one pump over and one pigèage for temperature control. The must was then basket pressed on the 14th day after harvesting. Settled for two weeks in tank before 11 months in a new barrel from Tonnellerie Minier (14% new oak) and in a variety of one to five year-old barrels from Tonnellerie Chassin. Racked under air pressure and settled for two weeks in tank before being bottled under a DIAM closure without fining or filtration.
“My vision for Le Grappin is to seek out special sites in the over-looked, under-appreciated reaches of Burgundy, that tell a story. I search out viticulteurs as maniacal as me, who tend their vines throughout the year, who know their sites and how best to make the site shine. My job is to ensure the wine reaches it’s true potential, working by hand, with small lots, giving each wine as much care and attention as my viticulteurs have paid to the vines. I believe one finds a sense of detail, purity, and focus in my wines as a result. I hope you enjoy the stories my wines have to tell.” – Andrew Nielsen, Le Grappin
About Le Grappin
Le Grappin make authentic wines from under-appreciated parcels in Burgundy and Beaujolais. They source fruit from the same single parcels of organically farmed vines each year. From their winery, in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune, they combine modern winemaking with traditional methods, eschewing additives and interventions.
The Nielsen’s started Le Grappin in 2011 following Andrew’s five-year journey working for some of the world’s great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay artisans in California, Central Otago, Burgundy, and the Yarra Valley and studying wine science. Emma joined in 2015 bringing her experience of marketing, events, and project management.
Their fruit is from vineyards farmed organically, working with the same growers each year, with some partnerships now lasting for more than 10 years. Fermentation is done with no additions, using strict sorting and hygiene to combat wine defaults, and serious vineyard work to avoid the need for sugar, acid or nutrient additions.
Whites are whole bunch pressed in hydraulic basket presses and fermented in a range of formats depending on the fruit – old oak barrels, concrete egg, wooden foudres and glass. Reds are fermented whole cluster in wood or concrete large tanks with ageing taking place in large-format old oak barrels, for up to two years depending on the vintage and the wine’s development.
Their Le Grappin labels showcase fine wines from the Côte de Beaune and Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, and Du Grappin, the more relaxed and restaurant-focused wines from Beaujolais, Mâconnais and Vézelay.
