LE GRAPPIN
Andrew and Emma Nielsen are an absolute treat. Their energy is intoxicating, often equal parts rowdy and thoughtful. They split their time between the UK and Burgundy, taking care of their sales and cellar simultaneously. They’re certainly clocking more miles than most each vintage.
Their focus is on sustainably farmed fruit from vineyards with true character. As each cuvée comes from a single site they try to capture the individuality mesoclimate, aspect, and soil can impart. They mostly resort to old-school techniques in the cellar, opting for minimal sulphur and a wide variety of maceration times. They are located in Beaune, but choose to make cuvées from the Mâcon, Beaujolais, and even the Rhône to round out their portfolio.
Their other obsession is packaging. They have been huge embracers of bag-in-box and refillable kegs, both of which are much better for the environment than glass bottles. Their bottled wines don’t have capsules, and, in the UK, they even pick-up and re-use the cardboard boxes their wines are shipped in. It’s this level of commitment we really admire.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $37.00 (AB), $44.50 (BC)
CSPC: 802586 (AB), 334312 (BC)
2022 BEAUJOLAIS-VILLAGES
Lancié, adjacent to Fleurie, is considered by some to be the forgotten cru of Beaujolais. This cuvées comes from fifty-year-old gobelet trained vines deeply rooted into alluvial pink granite and schist on a southeast-facing slope beneath the village itself. The grapes were fermented whole-cluster in concrete for ten days before being pressed off into tank and foudre for a nine-month elevage. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered, typically without SO2., under Diam corks for consistency.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $46.00 (AB), $55.00 (BC)
CSPC: 834434 (AB), 334306 (BC)
2022 BOURGOGNE ALIGOTÉ
After a tragically small 2021 vintage, our beloved Aligoté is back. This vineyard is in Mâcon’s La Roche-Vineuse on a south facing slope (Les Enceints in Pierreclos). The vines are over eighty years old and are planted in Bathonian limestone-marl. This biotype of Aligoté has orange-tinged skins. The grapes were foot crushed and slowly basket pressed. Fermentation and élevage took place in concrete, a new vessel for them now that they’ve moved into a more spacious cellar. After an eleven month élevage the wine is racked off its lees and bottled without SO2.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $46.50 (AB), $60.50 (BC)
CSPC: 102870 (AB), 334290 (BC)
2022 COTE DE BROUILLY
On the south-west slope of Mount Brouilly you’ll find the lieu dit of Le Conroy. Old bush vines are rooted in decomposed granite and diorite over a sturdy bedrock. The untilled vineyard is typically home to wildflowers and other indigenous, self-seeding plants. The grapes are put into tank for three weeks to undergo Jules Chauvet’s famed Fermentation Aromatique, essentially carbonic maceration without cap management. The wine is then pressed into concrete to finish fermentation before being racked to neutral 300L barrel for a seven-month élevage. It is released unfined and unfiltered.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $64.50 (AB), $76.50 (BC)
CSPC: 103502 (AB), 334295 (BC)
2022 VÉZELEY
Merlutte is a sunny, southeast facing lieu-dit south of Chablis. Although famous in antiquity, this appellation has been bottled under the anonymous Bourgogne Blanc label until recently. Soils in this plot are predominantly Kimmeridgian limestone, high in iodine. The grapes were whole cluster pressed into old foudre (one third) and concrete egg (two thirds). After a year long élevage, the wine is lightly filtered and bottled.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $64.50 (AB), $76.50 (BC)
CSPC: 103503 (AB), 334298 (BC)
2022 HAUTES-COTES DE BEAUNE BLANC
Perched behind Auxey-Duresses, the lieu dit Derrière Baubigny can be found below the town of Ochre. Forty year old vines benefit from the southeast exposure and limestone and mica soils – a fossil hunter’s dream. The grapes are whole cluster pressed into foudre and old barrel for both fermentation and élevage. After a full year on lees the wine is racked and lightly filtered for bottling. 225 cases were produced.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $64.50 (AB), $76.50 (BC)
CSPC: 103504 (AB), 334389 (BC)
2022 COTE D’OR ROUGE
This new cuvée comes from a vineyard below the town of Pommard. The lieu-dit of Les Seurrets features old vines planted on dolomitic alluvial marls and coarse limestone. Since it typically gives powerful wines, Andrew mitigated the weight by fermenting whole clusters in concrete for two weeks, minimizing extraction. It was then basket pressed into old foudre for a year of élevage. 325 cases were bottled unfined and unfiltered.
2021 BEAUJOLAIS FLEURIE-PONCIÉ
This vineyard is planted on a ridge high above the village of Fleurie. This warm south-facing site tends to yield wines with similarities to Moulin-a-Vent. Being a traditionalist, Andrew used Jules Chauvet’s vintage notes from 1972 as winemaking inspiration. The wine is fermented whole-cluster for three weeks before being pressed off into neutral foudres. No crushing, pumping, or plunging was performed during this time. The wine is unfined and unfiltered.
2021 BEAUJOLAIS SAINT AMOUR
This lieu-dit is called La Grande Charriere. It is lower on the slope meaning the soils are a bit richer, comprised of a combination of granite, slate, and nourishing clay. Being a traditionalist, Andrew used Jules Chauvet’s vintage notes from 1972 as winemaking inspiration. The wine is fermented whole-cluster for three weeks before being pressed off into neutral foudres. No crushing, pumping, or plunging was performed during this time. The wine is unfined and unfiltered.
2021 MÂCON-VILLAGES
South of Uchizy, and North of Pouilly-Fuissé, this plot of thirty-year-old Chardonnay is in the town of Azé. Soils here are a combination of limestone and clay. The grapes were harvested in early September and were pressed into stainless steel without any added SO2. After a short cold settling to eliminate the gross lees, the juice was moved into 350L and 400L barrels. After seven months on fine lees without batonnage, the wine is lightly filtered and bottled.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $138.00 (AB), $163.00 (BC)
CSPC: 834441 (AB), 242675 (BC)
2021 BEAUNE 1er CRU LES BOUCHEROTTES
Boucherottes is a lieu-dit located beneath Clos des Mouches and next to Pommard’s Les Epenots. Part of the plot is 40-year-old selection massale while the other component is Dijon 114/115. The grapes are fermented in nearly equal parts whole cluster and destemmed. After fermentation the wine is settled in tank before being racked to 300L barrel for eleven months. The wine is bottled, unfined and unfiltered under DIAM 10 corks to prevent spoilage and ensure consistency.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $98.50 (AB), $117.00 (BC)
CSPC: 815420 (AB), 242672 (BC)
2021 SAVIGNY-LES-BEAUNE ROUGE
The Pinot Noir for this cuvée was grown in a small lieu-dit called Aux Fournaux. The sixty-year-old vines are at the bottom of the slope adjacent to Vergelesses and Lavieres. Soils are comprised to Bathonian marl and limestone. The grapes are cooled over night before being moved to open-top vat. 30% of the grapes were destemmed. After pressing, the wine finishes its fermentation in tank before being racked into 300L barrel for eleven months. Limited new wood was used. The wine is bottled, unfined and unfiltered under DIAM 10 corks to prevent spoilage and ensure consistency.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $92.00 (AB)
CSPC: 834436 (AB)
2020 SAINT-AUBIN BLANC
This wine comes from the plot of En l’Ebaupin above the village of Saint Aubin. There is a soft gradient between chalky Argovian soils at the top of the slope, to iron rich Callovian lime-marl near the bottom of the slope. It’s westerly slope beneath the Haut-Cote delays ripening. The grapes are gently pressed for three hours and allowed to settle overnight. After a day of oxidation, the wine is racked into 300-400L barrel for fermentation and élevage. The wine is bottled, unfined and unfiltered under DIAM 10 corks to prevent spoilage and ensure consistency.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $74.00 (AB)
CSPC: 870686 (AB)
2020 MONTAGLY 1er CRU LES TREUFFÈRES BLANC
These forty-year-old Chardonnay vines are located above the town of Buxy in a parcel called Les Treuffères in the Côte Chalonnaise. Soils here are an ideal mixture of limestone and clay on a south facing aspect. The grapes were whole cluster pressed before settling in tank and being racked into barrel for fermentation and élevage. 12% ABV
