Macon

BRILLIANT WHITE BURGS FROM VIRTUOSO FABIEN DUPERRAY

As most of you who have been with us for a while know, we have been standard bearers for Beaujolais. We have brought you amazing values like some of the single-vineyard bottlings from Dubouef, promoted the classics like Thevanet, Lapierre, and Burgaud and chronicled the Cote d’Or invasion from the likes Girardin and Liger-Belair. For us, Beaujolais has always been important. In doing our research for the wines we were going to promote, we kept running across the name Jules Desjourneys. Not only were they some of the highest scoring Beaujolais we had ever seen, they were some of the most expensive by a fair bit.

When we finally had the opportunity to taste some of Desjourneys red Beaujolais, given their other worldly reputation, we were frankly disappointed. Yes the wines were unique and deeply colored, but they were also dense, impenetrable, and not really representative of the appellation. Yeah, we understand that being different will get you noticed, but we were certainly not as impressed as the pundits were. What did shock the heck out of us were how good the whites were, something that was not widely published.

That was the last time we saw anything from Desjourneys who, we were told by the importer at the time, wasn’t easy to deal with. Near as we can tell, he doesn’t have a national importer (only two stores have it on winesearcher). So when we saw some of these wines offered in Europe, remembering those stunning efforts from the 2015 vintage, we were all over them.

Now there is some buzz about the whites thanks to Wine Advocate’s Europe based reviewer William Kelly. His overview, “As I’ve written before, the irrepressible Fabien Duperray displays just as virtuosic talents in the vinification and élevage of his Mâconnais whites as he does with his Beaujolais reds, drawing on lessons learned in the company of the likes of Jean-François Coche, Arnaud Ente and Pierre Morey, producers he has represented in the French market for decades. In merely a handful of years, this project—a collaboration with Fuissé’s Domaine Thibert—has begun to consistently realize wines of genius that rank among the region’s élite…Whether this is the highest form of expression in wine, and whether a strong personal fingerprint is incompatible with or complementary to the articulation of nuances of site is a question for everyone to ponder; but Duperray appears to have arrived at his own answer.”

As a former sales arm of some of Burgundy’s elite estates, Duperray learned from the best. All of these are surprisingly expressive with driving underlying acidity. They knocked us out initially and this batch only served to prove our first impressions those years ago were not off base. We have modest quantities of these wines below, providing the reviews as well. But know that we could easily add a point or two just for the experience. Yes they are more expensive that typical Macons, but these are not ‘typical’ in any way.

Of the Jules Desjourneys Macon Fuissé Bois de la Croix 2018, Kelly wrote, “From a southeasterly exposed parcel characterized by schist soils, the 2018 Mâcon-Fuissé Bois de la Croix offers up notes of pear, orange oil and buttery pastry. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and muscular, it’s impressively structured and built to age for the vintage, with racy acids and chalky extract, concluding with a long finish. This already punches above its weight, and it will be even better with a bit of bottle age…92+ points.”

About the Jules Desjourneys Macon Verzé 2018, Kelly waxed, “From holdings at the top of the slope, exposed to the west, the 2018 Mâcon-Verzé unwinds in the glass with notes of pear, confit lemon, white flowers, warm bread and clear honey. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, it’s fleshy and elegant, with a seamlessly layered mid-palate, bright acids and a saline finish…92 Points.”

On the Jules Desjourneys Macon Prissé en Chailloux 2018, we found no reference to the lieu dit En Chailloux anywhere in reviews. There were multiple reviews on something merely called Macon Prissé that certainly describes this wine, “The 2018 Mâcon-Prissé offers up aromas of clear honey, fresh pear, blanched almonds and citrus zest. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it’s bright and precise, its lively spine of acidity cloaked in crisp but fleshy fruit…91 points.”

These are thrilling and distinctive wines that every white Burgundy lover should explore and their driving style should provide a structure for aging should that be your choice. But these are special wines that we don’t have access to on a regular basis, and they expand the expectations of what can be done in Macon.

SPECIAL PURCHASE, MACON NOSTALGIA

Like the song says, ‘every day is a winding road.’ We’re old enough to remember when it wasn’t unusual to find a knockout Macon for this kind of price. But that was a long time ago. In fact, with all of the new Premier Cru things happening in the Macon, prices are going the other way. That’s what makes this Macon buy not only special, but in a way kind of nostalgic. Meanwhile this ripping Macon deal was brought about by events.

Founded in 1989, Domaine Catherine & Didier Tripoz is located in the southern part of the Mâcon appellation, with an area of about 13 ha (about 32 acres) planted mainly with Chardonnay as you would expect. The age of the vines is between 20 and 65 years, averaging about 45 years-of-age. As of 2018, they have converted to organic farming.

Fast forward some three decades, and Catherine and Didier have decided to retire. They are selling the domaine and were liquidating their existing stocks. An importer we know was ‘johnny on the spot’ and snapped up a great portion of their remaining wines, which were predominantly from the very good 2019 and excellent 2020 vintages.

You can bet this would have been a full-blown email except that we didn’t quite have enough wine to do that because some of our shrewder buyers have been nibbling on the stocks for a while. Still, it was time to mention the Domaine Catherine & Didier Tripoz Macon Charnay Clos des Tournons 2020 (‘Clos des Tournons’ is a monopole, meaning that the Tripoz family owns the entire parcel). This will give a hint to a few new folks and be fair warning to those that have already discovered this little gem that it’s one and done.

This Macon has a real ‘old school’ feel to it. The wine shows floral notes, crisp apple, pear and citrus in the nose. The palate has bright apple, pear and a touch of citrus fruit, a surprising depth and intensity to the palate with notes of stone and faintly honeyed notes to the finish. From top to bottom the is plenty of underlying, as one taster called it ‘crackling’ acidity and a nice snap of minerality. The crisp profile, and the price ($13.98!), reminds us pleasantly of ‘days of yore’ before global warming. Right place, time, an exceptional buy…while it lasts.

WHITE BURGUNDY’S ‘NEXT BIG THING’

As most of you who have been with us for a while know, we have been standard bearers for Beaujolais. We have brought you amazing values like some of the single-vineyard bottlings from Dubouef, promoted the classics like Thevanet, Lapierre, and Burgaud and chronicled the Cote d’Or invasion from the likes Girardin and Liger-Belair. For us, Beaujolais has always been important. In doing our research for the wines we were going to promote, we kept running across the name Jules Desjourneys. Often when we would be reading extensive critical notes on the genre, Desjourneys wines were on another level review-wise.

It is simply in our DNA to have a look at everything thing we could, but at the time there was no West Coast distribution for Desjourneys. Some years later, we were finally presented with the wines from this esteemed producer. They were, as advertised, spectacular and unique examples of the genre. But the prices really put a clamp on what we could do with the wines, with some of the bottlings hitting $60-70 for Beaujolais. There was clearly enough sizzle for us to keep on top of it to look for opportunities. But for something selling for nearly double names like Lapierre and Thevenin, we had to pick our battles carefully.

It long ago we were given the opportunity to review the newest lineup from Desjourneys, this time including a couple of white wines. Before we go on, around here after years of tasting, we often use the terminology ‘white wine from a red wine guy’, or vice versa. In our experience, there is a high probability that a producer that is best known for red wines, for example, simply doesn’t have quite the same touch with whites. They are usually solid but lack that certain, special something that puts them on that top level. It has been generally true from little producers all the way up to legends like Coche-Dury and Ramonet. This was going through our minds as we looked down the lineup of Desjourneys, and we figured we would politely taste the whites and move on.

No one was more surprised than we were at how impressive these whites were! As we worked through the reds, we kept thinking about how much we loved the whites. Yes they were from southern Burgundy, and it’s hard to convince people that Pouilly Fuisse could perform at the level of something from the Cote d’Or given how many ordinary examples they had run across in their experience. However there are notable exceptions that come along every once in a while. You might recall several fabulous releases wee sold a while back from Robert-Denogent. Well, ‘red wine guy’ or not, these Chardonnays from Dejourneys amazed.

First a little background. Fabien Duperray was an agent for some of the Cote d’Or biggest stars and, presumably by association, had the mindset to create an estate that would be on the level of what he was accustomed to. Starting in 2007, he found some small plots in Beaujolais and accumulated 7+ hectares of choice, steep hillside plots in Fleurie and Moulin-a-Vent, Morgan and Chénas with vines ranging from 65 to 140 years old. He improved his own winemaking in leaps, and now farms in a way one writer called ‘beyond biodynamic’. He runs the place like a Cote d’Or estate, right down to the best corks, and it shows in the wines.

There are stories about how miniscule his yields are, and how he employed as many as 50 people to harvest and hand sort this tiny estate so that everything was optimally ripe. The result has been wines that David Schildknecht, then of Wine Advocate, called, “…some of the most remarkable Beaujolais wines of my experience, and perhaps ever rendered.” He has become something of a rock star in Beaujolais. Clearly the guy is destined to be a white wine superstar once people find out about it. But there isn’t much wine out there and even less information (even on Desjournays own web site).

What we can say is that, from the first taste, that whole ‘red wine guy making white wine’ went out
la fenêtre. There is clear viticulture/winemaking mastery going on here and these whites are profound beverages and unique in their expression. For less than the price of an ordinary Chassagne you can have some of the most intriguing Chardonnays we’ve ever had out of the southern part of Burgundy…ever. These are very special and more than fairly priced for what they are.

Jules Desjourneys Saint Veran 2014- Not only were we bowled over by these wines but were thrilled to find some from such a sensational vintage. From 60 year-old vines in clay and limestone soils, it all starts in the nose with this floral apple and yellow fruit impression but soon complexing notes of spice, limestone minerality, hints of wild herbs and toast began to evolve. On the palate it is at once mouth-filling and crisp with streaks of earth, spice, mineral and toast subtly interwoven with no single element sticking out of the core of yellow stone fruit and ripe apple. You are left with a lingering impression of spice and just the right cut of saliva-tickling acidity. Can’t say we have ever had a Saint Veran this serious or quite like this.

Jules Desjourneys Pouilly Vinzelles 2014-A notch up with perhaps a bit more incisive aromatics and a touch more of a toasty element evident, there’s a touch of citrus (oranges?) as well to the white and yellow peach fruit center. Again we have richness without thickness and the palate is fully engaged with the spice, mineral, and a little grilled almond nuance. It is seriously engaging again, maybe with a couple more ‘notes’ to the ‘music’ but that same presence on the palate and that almost lightly ‘pulpy’ texture. The few notes we have say that this one is done in 100% stainless steel, and that Fabien is a minimalist almost to the extreme, yet all aspects are orchestrated precisely. Delicious.

We also have bits of the Jules Desjourneys Pouilly Loche 2015 and Jules Desjourneys Pouilly Fuisse 2015. While we have been less excited about the 2015 vintage for whites overall, our objection is usually that they are a little flaccid. Not so here as these have a brightness that is definitely more identifiable structurally with 2014s, though they are slightly weightier. We could go on but there really isn’t that much wine and we could find no reviews of the whites anywhere. So for now they are our little secret. Suffice it to say these need to be tasted and they provided us with the kind of Burgundy ‘aha’ moment we rarely have.

Like we said, there wasn’t anything written about this vintage. But a look ahead suggests that this exciting new source is about to get some serious attention.