Chofflet-Valdenaire Givry 09 (4/6)

Domaine Choffet-Valdenaire, Givry 09 The Chofflet-Valdenaire estate, located in the hillside hamlet of Russily, has been in their family for over 100 years. The domaine possesses very well-placed vineyards with an average age of 25 years. The estate’s Givry AOC comes from several vineyard parcels. The grapes are entirely hand-harvested and 100% destemmed. It is aged half in tank, half in two-three year casks for one year before bottling. 90 pts ~ Wine Spectator This is rich and dripping with aromas and flavors of black cherry, blackberry and spice. There's plenty of flesh to coat the tannins, and a lingering finish Chofflet-Valdenaire, Givry 2009 100% Hand harvested and de-stemmed Givry sees a minimal amount of oak giving it a fresh, bright, edge. Get your first taste of the righteous '09 vintage. February 18, 2009 WINES OF THE TIMES Those Other Burgundies By ERIC ASIMOV SO close, and yet so far away. I sometimes wonder how it feels to be a vigneron in the Côte Chalonnaise, the hilly region that extends south and slightly east of the southern tip of the Côte d’Or, the great heart of Burgundy. The Côte d’Or, of course, receives all the accolades, the fawning visits and the money. The Côte Chalonnaise receives the figurative back of the hand because, well, it just isn’t the Côte d’Or. But it isn’t Beaujolais, either — that is, a different sort of nearby region that is simply linked administratively to Burgundy. The reds are made of pinot noir, the whites of chardonnay, just as in the famed villages to the north. Yet the wines from the main villages of the Côte Chalonnaise — Bouzeron, Rully, Mercurey, Givry and Montagny — have always been considered the poor rustic relations, without the elegance, grace or delineated intensity of their betters. As in all the world’s great but stratified wine regions, it must be a bitter thing to realize that regardless of how much commitment one brings to the soil, the grape and the winemaking, respect will always be elusive. But no matter how vast a chasm separates the Côte Chalonnaise from the Côte d’Or, it is still Burgundy after all, and the spillover potential is alluring. The hope always beckons that for appreciably less money the villages of the Côte Chalonnaise will offer a satisfying glimpse of Burgundy’s gorgeous sunlight. This hasn’t always been the case. In his book “The Wines of Burgundy” (University of California Press, 2008), Clive Coates calls the Côte Chalonnaise “a well-known forgotten area,” suggesting that while people in the wine trade acknowledge that the region is worth investigating, few merchants have actually taken the trouble to explore what the Côte Chalonnaise has to offer. For many years Americans have effectively not had access to some of the region’s best producers. Yet things are indeed changing for the better. As in so many other regions all over the world, the viticulture and cellar work in the Côte Chalonnaise have improved tremendously in the last 20 years. A new generation has taken over, one that has traveled widely and understands that quality is paramount in a global business. And more importers are seriously exploring the Côte Chalonnaise and making some of the better producers more widely available. The tasting panel recently sampled 25 reds from Rully, Mercurey and Givry, the leading Côte Chalonnaise villages for pinot noir. Eighteen were from the 2005 vintage and seven from 2006. Florence Fabricant and I were joined for the tasting by Michael Madrigale, the sommelier at Bar Boulud, and Chris Goodhart, who oversees wine programs at Keith McNally’s restaurants. We were all impressed with the wines, though a few cautionary notes were sounded as well. I was the most enthusiastic, finding the wines pretty, seductive and aromatic. I was struck by how much better they were than even 10 years ago. Nobody disagreed with me. But Michael and Chris, who deal directly with the public every day, both felt that these wines were more likely to appeal to people who already know and love Burgundy. For inexperienced wine drinkers, or for those who preferred New World pinot noir, they felt, these might not be the most appropriate wines. “It’s a factor of fruit,” Michael said. “You always want a little fruit as a buffer, and with some of these you don’t have a lot of fruit.” Indeed, the wines are leaner and more taut than many New World pinot noirs, which are generally fleshier with more sweetness and body. In general, the beauty of Burgundy is its combination of light-bodied grace and intensity. The trick in the Côte Chalonnaise, where the growing season is slightly cooler than in the Côte d’Or, is to make sure the grapes ripen fully and to keep grape yields low to maximize intensity. Certainly our top wines don’t lack fruit. The ’05 Rully En Guesnes from Vincent Dureuil-Janthial, our No. 1, had lovely, complex flavors of berries, earth and minerals, while our No. 2, the ’05 Givry Clos de la Servoisine from Jean-Marc Joblot, had beautiful fruit and floral aromas and great balance. Our No. 3, the 2006 Clos des Myglands from Joseph Faiveley, has been a favorite of mine for years. This wine is a little closed now, typical for a young Faiveley, and it’s sturdier than the Rully or Givry, as is typical of Mercurey, but its pretty violet, berry and earth tones should open beautifully in the next few years. These three wines, $37, $47 and $40 respectively, are not cheap. But they are on the high end for the Côte Chalonnaise, and they do represent good values for Burgundy buyers. “A lot of people who were buying $80 or $90 bottles are now buying $40 or $50 bottles,” Chris said. Our No. 4 wine, a 2005 Givry from Chofflet-Valdenaire, was light, delicate and balanced, and, at $24, it was our best value. It was gentler than some of the other wines, with a lively acidity, and I really liked it. But I could see that if one preferred bigger, more sumptuous wines this might seem a bit thin. The best wines of the Côte Chalonnaise are not always easy to find. Some of the top producers, like Faiveley and Jean-Marc Joblot, had two wines each among our top 10. But we couldn’t find bottles from other leading names. I can assure you that Mercurey from Michel Juillot and Domaine Menand, Givry from François Lumpp, and Bourgogne rouge from A.& P. de Villaine are all excellent choices. In the future, as more people taste these wines and recognize their quality, I hope they will become easier to find. Soon enough, people may no longer speak wistfully about what the Côte Chalonnaise is not, but instead speak enthusiastically about what it has become. (E. Asimov, NYT)