LeDomduVin: 2007 Thierry Tissot Roussette du Bugey Mataret (Altesse) Savoie France

2007 Thierry Tissot Roussette du Bugey Mataret (Altesse) Savoie France

I am very fond of Savoie and Bugey's wines. I love their minerality and texture. Their taste is always versatile, focused, delightful, and easy to drink.

Before getting into the wine of the day, let me introduce you to the Savoie and Bugey vineyards.

Bugey Savoie Wine Map courtesy of Vineyards.com

As you can see on the map above, the vineyards of Savoie and Bugey are primarily located south of Geneva, scattered across three French departments bordering Switzerland.  

The wines of Savoie are made in both the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, to the east of the Rhone River (and west of the Isere River to the South), while the wines from Bugey are made in the department of Ain.  

Roussette de Savoie is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for white wine. The AOC covers much of the Western part of the Savoie AOC for wines made entirely or mainly from the regional grape variety called "Altesse" (also known as Roussette). 

Typically, wines designated with the generic "Roussette de Savoie" AOC (rather than with some specific Cru) are blended with up to 50% Chardonnay, while those explicitly marked as “Altesse” are made exclusively from this grape. 

Savoie white wines show best in their youth, yet their high acidity also gives them the potential to age. These white wines are typically crisp and dry, displaying aromas of violets and mountain herbs, complemented by flavors of minerals, bergamot, honey, and hazelnut.

Within the "Roussette de Savoie" AOC, the geographical designation mentioned via the name of the "Village" or “Cru” written on the label includes Frangy, Marestel, Monterminod, and Monthoux. Wines bearing these "Cru" designations are made exclusively from Altesse (see map above). 

The best vineyards are planted on Quaternary alluvial fans (see picture above: Alluvial Fan - Image Courtesy of ScienceDirect.com) along the edges of the Massifs of Bauges and Borne.

Domaine Thierry Tissot

Thierry Tissot is a great producer who deserves more recognition for his wines. They are pure and delightful. I invite you to discover them whenever you have the chance.

After a previous life as an "itinerant winemaker," passing through Italy, Saint-Émilion, Burgundy, and Jongieux, just to name a few, Thierry Tissot planted his high-altitude vines on a hillside named Mataret in 2001, the year he settled in Bugey. 

In the Bugey region in the Ain département of France, wines were previously produced under the two VDQS designations "Bugey" and "Roussette du Bugey". Yet, on May 28, 2009, the "INAO" elevated  "Bugey" and "Roussette du Bugey" to Appellation d'Origine contrôlée (AOC) status.

Most Bugey wines are white, made from the aromatic white variety "Altesse", locally called "Roussette". Yet rosé, red, and sparkling wines are also produced in Bugey. 

The vineyards of the two Bugey appellations cover around 500 hectares (1,200 acres) and are spread over 67 communes in the department of Ain (see map above).

Thierry Tissot is one of the top producers of Bugey. He is located at Vaux-en-Bugey, a quaint little village enclaved between two hills in the foothills of the Alps about 52 kilometers northeast of Lyon and roughly 40 kilometers southeast of Bourg-en-Bresse.

A family property for five generations, this 5-hectare Domaine produces a few other wines made from other grape varieties, such as Jacquere, Chardonnay, Roussette, Mondeuse, and Gamay, under the following appellations:

• Chardonnay du Bugey 
• Roussette du Bugey "Coteaux de Mataret" 
• Rosé du Bugey 
• Gamay du Bugey 
• Mondeuse du Bugey "Coteaux de Mataret"
• Bugey Brut Blanc 
• Bugey Brut Rosé

Thierry took over the family domaine in 2001, soon after receiving his Diploma as an Oenologist.

Today's wine is his Rousette du Bugey "Mataret." Mataret consists of three hectares of calcareous clay soils with blue marl and veins of shale, facing southwest at an elevation of 350 meters.

The local elders used to talk about the slopes of "Mataret," saying that before the chestnut trees grew, the land produced legendary wines. 

It didn't take long for Thierry to clear 3 hectares of the chestnut forest on the steep slope and plant 18000 vines of Roussette and Mondeuse. These vines are still young, but they already express the complexity of the blue marl contained in the soil.

A local from many generations and a young father, entrepreneur, and explorer, faithful and passionate, Thierry crafts his wines with love, care, and attention. He is a perfectionist, attached to details. Both wines under the name "Mataret" are produced from low-yielding vines and grown pretty much organically.

• Roussette du Bugey "Mataret" is complex, with great minerality and ripe yellow fruit flavors, very good structure and texture and evident ageing potential (even for a white). 

• Mondeuse du Bugey "Mataret" is bright, crisp, and mineral, with racy red berry flavors. The grapes are fully destemmed and undergo semi-carbonic maceration to maximize the fruit expression.

Both resulting wines are fine examples of what Bugey has to offer. Thierry Tissot is a producer to keep an eye on, as he is definitely an up-and-coming young and talented winemaker.

2007 Thierry Tissot Roussette du Bugey Mataret (Altesse) Savoie France

Suggested retail price $16-$19
Imported/distributed by Wineberry in NYC

Made from 100% Roussette, also called “Altesse” the most predominant indigenous white grape variety of Savoie, this wine is of great character and flavor, with loads of minerality. Behind its light yellow-greenish color, the nose boasts aromas of slightly toasted hazelnut and dried fruit with blossom, floral hints. The palate of this mountainous wine unfolds with lemon zest and yellow fruit flavors intermingled with notes of sea brine, minerals, and hay. The finish is very long and has touches of grapefruit, sherry, and more minerality. Versatile, crisp, coating, complex yet easy going, it will pair greatly with cheeses, fondue, pâté, and ham.

Cheers! Santé!

Enjoy!,

LeDomduVin

Step into the Green! Drink more Biodynamic, Biologique, and Organic wines, spirits, and food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment! Support the right causes for the Planet and all the people suffering all around the globe! Also, follow projects and products from the Fair Trade, an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability. Also support 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide. "Commerce Equitable" or "Fair Trade" is evidently and more than ever a needed movement connecting producers and customers, to be aware of others and their cultural and traditional products based on high-quality, natural components and craftsmanship.

@ledomduvin, #ledomduvin, #vin, #wine, #vino, #wein, #roussette, #white, #altesse, #savoie, #france, #bugey, #rousettedubugey, #thierrytissot, #mataret, #sommelier, #sommelierlife, #sommlife, #winebuyer, #tasting, #ilovewine

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LeDomduVin: 2009 Nicolas Gonin Persan - Mondeuse Vin de Pays des Balmes Dauphinoises Saint-Chef France

Nicolas Gonin  Persan - Mondeuse Vin de Pays des Balmes Dauphinoises Saint-Chef France

Are you kidding me? Is that a joke? We are the 1st of April, Fool's Day, and the weather is crappy; melting snow has been falling since this morning in New York, and it is not really motivating. It has been a really long, bad winter, and I'm not even talking about the recent news on TV worldwide.

On a more positive note, my wife and I continue to contemplate our newborn daughter, who just turned three months old. Like our older son, she is the sunshine of our life at that age. It doesn't mean our son isn't anymore, but a few years have passed, and he is not a little baby anymore.

However, because winter seems that it will last a bit longer before we turn the page and start drinking more whites and springy roses, my wife and I continue to drink our favorite earthy, wintery reds from small, artisanal, sometimes hard-to-find producers from the lesser-known region. Talking of those, the following one is a great example of rare gems.    

Michael, my rep from Metropolis, came to the store today to discuss some wines we had recently tasted. Before leaving, he left me a bottle of red wine with a peculiar name. "Bring it home and tell me what you think!" he said.

I look at the label with a doubtful look... "Vin de Pays des Balmes Dauphinoises"??? Where is this? I asked Michael. I never heard of it, simultaneously thinking: "Damn! They don't know what "Vin de Pays" to invent to be able to sell their wines, these French(s)!"

I had to investigate and share this discovery with you.

From what Micheal said, Nicolas Gonin is a character with a big heart and a passion for winemaking and developing indigenous, unusual grapes. You will immediately understand by looking at the label of this wine: "Mondeuse" and "Persian" are two local Indigenous red grapes from the region. But where is this region of "Balmes Dauphinoises"?

Mondeuse is a good indication because it mainly grows in the Savoie region in France. Therefore, we must be near or in Savoie. Good thinking. By searching on a map where the wine comes from, I realized that the village of "Saint-Chef" is located west of the Savoie region, about halfway (60 kilometers on both sides) between Lyon and Chambéry, in the "Dauphiné" (which evidently explains "Dauphinoises" on the label).

The "Dauphiné" or "Dauphiné Viennois" is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was an independent state from 1040 to 1349, under the rule of the Counts of Albon, before joining the Kingdom of France. As a French province, the Dauphiné maintained its autonomy until 1457, and Grenoble has been its capital since the 11th century.

Under the Ancien Régime, the province was bordered to the North by the River Rhône, which separated the Dauphiné from the provinces of Bresse ("Brêsse") and Bugey ("Bugê"). To the east, it bordered the Savoie and Piedmont, and to the south, the Comtat Venaissin and Provence. The western border was marked by the Rhône to the south of Lyon. The Dauphiné extended up to what is now the center of Lyon.         

To talk about the grapes:

Mondeuse (or Mondeuse Noire) is a red grape variety primarily grown in the Savoie region of France. It can also be found in Argentina, Australia, and California. The grape was hit hard during the phylloxera epidemic of the 19th century, which nearly wiped out three-quarters of the European vineyards between the 1860s and 1930s. In Savoie, the grape is used in blending with Gamay, Pinot Noir, and Poulsard, where it contributes its dark color and high acid level, allowing the wines to age well.

Persan is a fairly old, indigenous red grape variety that was nearly extinct and definitely forgotten until only a few years ago. Nicolas Gonin spends a lot of time nurturing his vines as a passionate, attentive, and perseverant grower and a talented yet humble winemaker. A few years ago, intrigued and unsure of his discovery, he had some grapes analyzed to confirm his feeling that he was in the presence of a supposedly gone variety. "Persan" was reborn, and Nicolas, ecstatic about his find, started to replant it.

In these difficult times of pollution and globalization in terms of agriculture, it is very inspiring to witness that there are still some producers who dare to come back to the old style of winemaking, practicing Organic, Biodynamic, Sustainable, and other Natural culture to protect the environment, revive the soil, enhance the natural habitat of the local fauna and flora, to produce healthier wines and other agricultural products. 

It is even more exciting and enticing when some offer a true renaissance to older, unheard-of grapes rather than easily fall into the trap of the now "too-international" Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon grapes.

Domaine Nicolas Gonin 

Born in 1975, Nicolas obtained his oenologist's national diploma at the Dijon faculty and has trained with master winemakers from Domaine Tempier in Bandol, Domaine Forey in Vosne-Romanée, Chateau Gilette in Sauternes, Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron in Nuits-St-Georges, and Ridge Vineyards in California …

His wish to return and produce quality wines in his native region goes back to the end of the 1990s, although several very interesting positions were proposed to him. The official installation took place in 2005 with the takeover of his uncle’s vineyard, Gaston Gonin, in Saint Chef, which is about 30 minutes from Côte-Rôtie.

However, the surface area of this vineyard was not sufficient to qualify him as a wine grower and obtain plantation rights. He needed to rent other plots of land, most of them in poor condition and further away, vineyards that nobody wanted to work …

The Domaine was slowly created with bits and pieces of vineyards from 20 owners. 

From 2003 to 2007, 2,4 hectares of local vines were planted: Altesse, Mondeuse, and Persan.

In 2005, a cellar of 250 m² was built with alveolar brick in terra cotta and a roof of local Dauphinois style. Today, the vineyard is completely restructured; the bad plots of land were eliminated, and the current surface of the domain is 5 hectares. Other projects of plantation are in progress.

He started producing his first vintage from young vines in 2005. The Domaine now encompasses 6 hectares, 2 of which are not in production but soon will be.   

2009 Nicolas Gonin  Persan - Mondeuse Vin de Pays des Balmes Dauphinoises Saint Chef France

Suggested price $19-$22
Imported by MC2 / distributed by Metropolis in NYC

Crafted with roughly 50% Persan and 50% Mondeuse, depending on the vintage—I think that actually, it is 60% Persan and 40% Mondeuse for this 2009 vintage—this wine was vinified 100% Organic. It was the second harvest for the Persan wine from vines planted between 2003 and 2005.

The vineyard was already worked under the Biodynamic method, but it has been fully Biodynamic certified since 2010. The vineyard is totally herbed. In 2010, Nicolas Gonin will make a 100% Persan, a grape variety highly subject to mildiou and high acidity levels, which convinced ancient producers to abandon it until its renaissance a few years ago. 

The grapes underwent 12 days of Maceration with pigeage every other day to gently maximize extraction and highlight the grapes' character. I don’t think it has seen any oak, or if it did, it was surely old, neutral oak for a short time. In any case, it doesn’t show on the palate. 500 cases were made, and only a few reached the US market.

2009 Nicolas Gonin Persan - Mondeuse Vin de Pays des Balmes Dauphinoises presents a dark ruby color. The nose is somewhat restrained, but distinct yet discreet aromas of dark berry, earth, and soil are immediately recognizable. The attack is quite juicy and fresh on the palate, with rapidly developing flavors of really dark, ripe berries mingled with earthy components. This natural, terroir-oriented wine possesses great balance and enhances the acidity nicely, carrying the fruit toward the dark, earthy, structured, and somewhat rustic, lingering finish. Mondeuse usually produces light, crisp, fresh reds, yet it seems that Persan confers a lot of earthiness, texture, and structure with a good grip of integrated tannins. Definitely a food-friendly wine, revealing both the Terroir from which it comes and the tendency of the producer to produce true, authentic, and varietally expressive wines.

Enjoy!

Cheers! Santé! 

Dom

LeDomduVin aka Dominique Noël 

Info partly taken and edited from the Importer website at http://www.winemc2.com/ and partly taken and edited from www.wikipedia.org/ for some of the info on the Dauphiné and Mondeuse. You can also go to the winery website, which is in French at www.vins-nicolas-gonin.com/ (I will, by the way, try to translate a bit from it soon to complete this post with more accurate info.)

@ledomduvin #ledomduvin #wine #vin #vino #wein #nicolasgonin #persan #mondeuse #savoie #dauphine #naturalwine #tasting #tastingnotes #sommelier

Unless stated otherwise, all rights reserved ©LeDomduVin 2011, on all the contents above including, but not limited to, photos, pictures, drawings, illustrations, collages, visuals, maps, memes, posts, texts, writings, quotes, notes, tasting notes, descriptions, wine descriptions, definitions, recipes, graphs, tables, and even music and video (when and where applicable).

Step into the Green! Drink more Biodynamic, Biologique and Organic wines and spirits and food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment! Support the right causes for the Planet and all the people suffering all around the globe! Also, follow projects and products from the Fair Trade, an organized social movement and market-based approach to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability. Also, support 1% for the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide. "Commerce Equitable" or "Fair Trade" is evidently and more than ever a needed movement connecting producers and customers to be aware of others and their cultural and traditional products based on high quality, natural components, and craftsmanship.