Pre Arrival Offer June 2023
OFFER OPENS 23 JUNE 2023
OFFER CLOSES 30 JUNE 2023
ESTIMATED DELIVERY DATE SEPTEMBER 2023
Producers included in this offer:
- Domaine Les Champs de l'Abbaye (Alain Hasard) - Aluze, Côte Chalonnaise
Just the one producer this offer with minuscule quantities. An unheard of producer that truly is in tier 1 league. There are two main reasons you have never heard of Alain Hasard from Les Champs de l'Abbaye; Firstly, and not without exaggeration, he is the most humble vigneron you will meet. Secondly, he is based in Aluze (no not your aunty's Alizé!!!) in the Côte Chalonnaise.
His Monthelie 'Les Sous Roche' was my biggest surprise last year, it drank like a mini Roulot 'Les Tessons'! Both the whites and reds are fine boned, detailed and aromatic. The reds are particularly pretty and the whites even more mineral. I am not always a believer in 'finding value' in lesser regions as I am a lover of the principle villages of Burgundy but these wines certainly do prove that it's more than possible.
Any questions at all, please get in touch!
Jono Hersey
Domaine Les Champs de l’Abbaye – Alain Hasard
Bill Nanson, The Burgundy Report:
Alain Hasard was originally a caviste, sommelier and psychologist; "I really came to wine from a culture of gastronomy. I began this adventure with my wife, Isabelle, who I met when we were both studying in Montpellier. We arrived in Beaune in 1994, where I studied at the CFPA. I started to make wine in 1997 with 4 hectares of passetoutgrains in the Couchois – straight away with culture biologique and lower yields because I thought it important to differentiate from generic wine. We later moved to here to Aluze."
"Our village of Aluze has a classic argilo-calcaire terrior that looks white when it rains. There are two hillsides; one a prolongation of Rully that’s west-facing and one in the village that’s south facing."
2002 was Alain’s first year ‘totally independent’ where they bottled all the production themselves for first time. "We have a little over 5 hectares, which is just the right size for a life for two! We have 9 different cuvees, including some parcel selections."
"I use a small team at harvest-time, and we do all our triage in the vines. Our politique is low yields, looking for intensity and precision – the terrior should decide. So it’s 20-25 hl/ha for the reds, and ~35 hl/ha for the whites. We are quite minimalist, definitely preferring to work more on the vines than in the cellar. I like to think that our work is an ouvre – it can be like music or chants from ‘champs’ (fields), hence, the musical symbol on our bottles."
"Freshness, minerality and intensity is always my target – I don’t chaptalise – or very rarely anyway – as I’m not looking for higher alcohol. Harvesting is by a local team, so we harvest over 15 days allowing the picking each small plot at its optimum ripeness, and often with more than one pass through the vines. The whites are also triaged at the vine, the whole clusters then pressed in our Vaslin press. Normally we have quite long alcoholic fermentations – of about 8 months – often the malos starting before the sugar is exhausted."
"Our fully destemmed style changed a little in 2011, coinciding with a new destemmer that left perfect grapes." Since then Alain has been augmenting the quantity of whole clusters up to 35% in some cuvées (so far).
"Because we already have a low rendement, I’m not looking to extract with pigeage – the material should already be there."
"We’re working with various coopers, always with a very fine grain. No barrels older than 5 years are used, and as much as 50% new oak used for many cuvees."
2021 Domaine Les Champs de l’Abbaye Rully Blanc 'la Chatalienne' RRP $162
Just beneath Cilloux with an east, south east aspect. 40 year old vines grown on a limestone slab before turning to a heavier clay.
2021 Domaine Les Champs de l’Abbaye Mercurey Blanc 'La Brigadiere' RRP $162
A terroir that abuts the premier crus of the village.. Light brown soil with limestone from Nantoux on a subsoil of white marl. A .5 ha plot with a vine age of almost 50 years.
2021 Domaine Les Champs de l’Abbaye Monthelie Blanc 'Les Sous Roches' RRP $173
A very steep plot which sits just below the rocks of Monthelie. Very high density planting. *Bottled the day before tasted: A lick of extremely attractive gun powder and struck match. Extremely taut, jawclenching. Seaspray and pith. The palate is straight with extreme freshness, clarity, minerality and liveliness. Salivating and saline. Long. Very, very good.
2021 Domaine Les Champs de l’Abbaye Mercurey Rouge 'Les Marcoeurs' RRP $162
*Bottled the day before tasted: Ripe, soft fleshed plum, crushed violets, lime pith, overtly ripe and detailed raspberry. The palate has perfectly ripe tannins, balanced fruit, perfume and succulent fruit with salivating, juicy and suave textures.