My love of good white wine has grown
tremendously over the past year. Maybe it is the
wonderful vintages, maybe it is the refreshing,
cool citrus
and mineral flavors. Of course, it's not
just any
white wine that rings my chimes - it takes a
white Burgundy. Like many of you, I like to
savor the time at the end of the day when the
work is done with a
glass in my hard.
I particularly like a white Burgundy with a
price tag that means I can drink it every
day. Yes, that's a bit
little trickier to nail down in the pricey
paradise of white Burgundies.
But, if you travel south to the Macon region
- then you
can find what I'm looking for. Ah-h and
you'll have a good time doing it - the land
there is lush and lovely beyond description.
The Collovray and Terrier families created
the Domaine des Deux Roches in 1986 in the
Maconnais wine region, south of the Cote
d'Or. Out of this marriage comes some of the
most compelling St Verans in the region.
Deux Roches refers to the two gigantic rock
cliffs that punctuate the landscape here:
Vergisson and Solutre. The estate is in
Davaye which is considered the best source of
St Veran. The St Veran vineyards are to the
north and the south of the Pouilly Fuisse
vineyards but the northern vineyards make the
best wines and this is where Davaye is found.
Here's what Jean-Luc Terrier says about his
winemaking:
"We reverted with passion to the traditional
methods of our grandfathers as if they were
something new and extraordinary. Here we are,
making our
own compost again instead of using chemical
fertilizers. And far from boosting yields, we
prune severely and then go out into the
vineyards again in summer to thin the fruit
for perfect ripeness and better quality."
Here is what La Revue said about
Terrier's wines:
"...the estate has become a locomotive for the
appellation of St Veran and one of the most
important properties. The estate uses
impeccable technology creating wines of a
reasonable price. These wines are an
interesting alternative to the whites from
the Cotes de Beaune." - "The Best Wines
from France 2010," La Revue du Vin de
France
Hey! That's exactly what I said.
And 2009 is a lovely vintage. Allen Meadows of Burghound describes the 2009 vintage as, "rich and full but not heavy." He counsels, "I would be buying the '09s more for their fruit-forward characters and ability to be enjoyed young." He also writes, "the whites from Chablis, the Mâconnais and the Côte Chalonnaise remain screaming
bargains relative to the Côte d'Or and much of the New World." Buy enough!
Stephen Tanzer (of International Wine Cellar) gives his take on the 2009 white burgundies: "The wines from a number of estates I visited seem much fresher and more classic-aromatic, silky and utterly beguiling."
It is interesting to me that St Veran was
intended to be part of Pouilly Fuisse when
that area received its AOC back in the 30's,
but St Veran rejected the idea. Most growers
were making red wine back then and they
didn't think it would be an advantageous fit.
Also, appellations were a new concept and St
Veran was a feisty small bunch of growers who
feared the government was going to start
butting into their business.
It wasn't until 1971 that St Veran received
its official AOC. This reinvigorated the area,
convincing many of the growers to stop
selling in bulk, start taking more care
about quality, and begin
bottling their own
wines.
Let's all have a glass of Collovray
&Terrier St Veran, shall we? Cynthia
Hurley
