Description
This wine comes from a 0.55ha holding of 50yo vines planted in a lieu-dit called Les Chataigniers at 310m altitude above the village of Saint Aubin – the soil here is of a medium depth and easy to plough. Low yield averaging 40hh, whole-bunch fermentation and free run juice only (press juice discarded). Aged in old 228ltr barrels for 15 months, pinch of sulphur added at bottling. Pale-coloured, it is juicy, fresh and elegant with sustained red fruits aromas typical of pinot noir. As Pierre likes to point out this is the perfect accompaniment for BBQs with good friends!
Having spent many years living in the polluted air of big cities, going back to nature and connecting with it was a big draw for Pierre, and working biodynamically was imperative. He became fascinated by the subject (many years before his career as a vigneron) after picking up Rudolf Steiner’s book The Agricultural Course at a Parisian flea market. From then on he attended courses on biodynamics while applying its principles to the family farm (in the Cantal region) as a hobby!
Maison En Belles Lies tends 7ha, half of which he owns while the other half is rented, spread over ten appellations across the Côte de Beaune. Many of the herbs and plants used in the preparations are harvested in the vicinity of the vineyards, while some others such as arnica, wormwood and yarrow are picked and dried in the Alps where Pierre has a cabin. The 50yo plus vines originate mostly from qualitative massal selections; naturally low-yielding they are weaved (no trimming) to preserve the shoot apex and avoid plant stress, producing small and tasty grapes with great density and balance. Weather permitting, the vineyard and cellar work is paced by lunar cycles – the reds, for instance, are harvested when the moon is rising and the cuvaison lasts a full lunar cycle of 29-30 days.
13.5% / 75CL
