Description
This is a wine of real poise from a small domaine where no effort is spared to produce exceptional wine from biodynamic viticulture. Mid-plum in colour, the nose is understated with hints of cherry and mocha. The palate offers supple, silky fruit. Oak has been well handled and the fine tannins are well knitted in. 2016 was a beautiful classical age-worthy vintage, it brings depth and complexity. Low sulphur of around 25mg/l total. For drinking now to 2028.
Clos du Jaugueyron is now composed of 16 parcels around Macau and Arsac, scattered between forest, ocean, and estuary. Granted Demeter certification back in 2008, Michel loves being among his vines, observing and connecting to nature, he adapts his work to the many different soils, sub-soils, and micro-climates of the area.
The winery is rudimentary, at least compared to the regional norm, and is conveniently placed next to their house in the middle of the Landes. Fermentations take place in cement tanks with 20-50% whole bunches, extraction is tailored to each cuve and cépage – it is as light as possible (especially on the cabernets) with a few remontages at the start followed by pigeages done by hand for precision. The wines are manipulated as little as possible at all stages, they are neither racked nor ouillé during their 12-21 months élevage in old barrels and diamond-shaped concrete tanks – it allows Michel to use very low levels of sulphur of around 25mg/l total.
Keen to constantly progress, they tweak things every year to better reflect and express their terroir, and they don’t shy away from experiments. For instance, they developed a ‘pied de cuve’ technique where the CO2 released from the starter is used to inoculate the tanks as opposed to adding and blending some of that starter “which eliminates some families of yeasts other than Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, eventually uniformising taste”.
Open-minded and altruist Michel and Stéphanie are pioneers who inspired and fostered a new generation of vignerons Bordelais such as Closeries des Moussis, Osamu Uchida and Vincent Quirac (Clos 19 Bis). They work in harmony with nature to bring the best out of their legendary terroir and, in the process, show the world that Bordeaux hasn’t lost its soul.
75cl
