Description
‘The quality of these wines is nothing short of phenomenal compared to the usual quality of the respective appellations’ Allen Meadows, Burghound
Claude Maréchal is a vigneron who most people have not heard about, especially outside France despite his estate being rated at the same level as Dujac, Carillon, d’Angerville, Ponsot and Sauzet in France’s most respected wine guide – La Revue du Vin de France.
Catherine and Claude Maréchal have been standing out in the ever crowded and competitive Burgundy thanks to the precise, elegant and finely scented wines they produce from their 10 hectares scattered on six Côte de Beaune communes. Claude began the domaine in 1981 and in the mid 1980’s he met Henri Jayer, who became a huge source of inspiration and learning. Since then Maréchal has, year after year, honed his skills and today offers incredibly fine wine, amongst the greats in Burgundy.
He reached a turning point in the mid-1980s when he came to taste with the likes of Jayer and Jean Thevenet. “Compared to what I was making, it was a revelation: it was like eating in a supermarket cafeteria your entire life and suddenly, you are tasting dishes from a 3 star restaurant. This led to a shift from conventional agriculture, to a work philosophy that is more respectful of our environment, but also to the quality of the wine itself.”
Following his instincts and his mentor, Claude is fastidious about keeping treatments in the vineyards to a minimum and striving for low yields. No herbicides are used, the vineyards are plowed, and all grapes are harvested manually and totally destemmed. Fermentation occurs slowly with native yeasts and maceration takes place over 20 days. Once pressed, the wine develops in oak barrels (only a low percentage of which is new) for a period of 12 to 18 months with the lees.
Claude and Catherine’s aim is to produce “vins de plaisir” – wines that are approachable and bring pleasure to all who drink them. Ultimately, Claude says, “you don’t make wine with techniques, you make wine with grapes. If you harvest ripe, healthy grapes, the wines will always be exemplary.”
These wines offer everything one wants in Burgundy but which is so hard to find – admirable concentration, purity and finesse combined with texture and balance that will see these wines evolve over many years.
About this wine: Claude makes one of the great Bourgogne Pinot Noirs, he is often the winner of the La Revue du Vin de France tasting when they do it – he did it with his 2016 and this 2020 is super again. Crafted from the Pommard and Chassagne area, in 2020 the wine is larger scaled than usual as you would expect from 2020 but the bouquet is again lovely, wafting from the glass in a fine blend of raspberries, black cherries, sweet soil tone and violets. On the palate the wine is medium to full bodied, focused and long, with a sappy core, good transparency and fine tension and grip on the long and vibrant finish. . Another rich and characterful Bourgogne from Claude and in these times when Bourgogne Rouge can wholesale in three figures, this is a serious bargain.
Claude’s wines are not expensive for top level Burgundy and due to their quality, are in demand .. while stocks last!
RRP $92 Our Special Price $77.99
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