Translation missing: en.Michel Gahier + Denis Bachelet + Chateau Grillet: Michel Gahier + Denis Bachelet + Chateau Grillet
Michel Gahier
Michel Gahier - the legend from Jura always produces amazing wines that have just graced our shelves. Michel makes wines from the classic Jura grapes: Trousseau for the rouges, Chardonnay and Savagnin for the blancs; using the traditional winemaking methods of the region.
Gahier is based in Montigny which is considered to have the finest terroir in Jura for growing the red grape Trousseau. Trousseau is a grape that is pale and light-bodied, has depth with a firm tannic grip, yet remains weightless and ethereal with a chewy, pithy texture. Gahier’s reds are all aged in large foudre and are lively on the nose with deep flavours of cherry, raspberry, earth and forest floor. These are exceptional wines that have both the approachability for early drinking and the structure and intensity needed for cellaring.
Michel’s blancs are made in both the typical Jura oxidative style as well as the ouillé style i.e. topped style from limestone and clay soils resulting in a wine with incredible complexity and depth. These wines are rich and seductive while retaining the hallmark minerality of quality Chardonnay and Savagnin.
We've got a great range of Gahier's wines in stock now. We have a single bottle of the '23 'Rouge de Max' sourced from a vineyard previously owned by Michel's recently passed brother and made with the help of his Nephew after which the bottle is named. Trousseau dominant with a sprinkle of Pinot Noir and Mondeuse - this is a light and supple bistro red. The 'Montibulles Methode Ancestrale' is a fantastic alternative to Champagne with a more distinctive style - these Cremants from Jura have been quite popular in store recently. We have 4 different expressions of Trousseau from the master - all from the 2023 vintage there is: 'Le Clousot Trousseau', 'La Vigne du Louis Trousseau' and a single bottle left of 'Mademoiselle D' and 'Les Grands Vergers Trousseau'. These wines come from vines increasing in average age as they have been listed and each wine is a jump in concentration, complexity and structure. We've got a dozen of the '23 'Les Follasses Chardonnay' which is arguably one of the best value and most consistent Chardonnays in Jura. There is also a bottle of the '22 'Lou Blanc' left which is a great example of the ‘ouillé’ style. There are a couple bottles left of the '19 'La Fauquette Blanc' which is an oxidative style of the rare Jura grape Melon a Queue Rouge. Finally, we have 2 bottles of the '15 'Vin Jaune' for those that love their nutty Jura juice. Time and time again Michel has proven to make some of the most consistent and well-priced wines in Jura - cheers to Gahier!
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Denis Bachelet
Domaine Denis Bachelet is a tiny estate of just 4 hectares in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin and has been run essentially single-handedly by Denis since 1983. Denis was born in 1963 in the town of Spy in Belgium as his father had fallen in love with a local girl when he came to visit the town on an outing with the Gevrey-Chambertin choir. Denis would visit his grandparents in Gevrey in the school holidays and came to love the magic of the vigneron’s world, beginning to make wine in 1981.
“La finesse avant tout” – finesse before all things.
Like all of the world's greatest vignerons, Denis believes that the quality of his wine is derived from his hard work in the vineyards, which includes green harvesting when it looks like the vines are threatening a larger crop. At harvest time the grapes are sorted in the vineyard to remove anything less than perfect, with further triage carried out on a vibrating sorting table since 2003. The grapes are 100% destemmed, then crushed which Denis prefers for colour extraction. After a cool pre-fermentation maceration for up to a week, fermentation occurs with natural yeasts in vats after which it is pressed off and left to settle in tank for a week before putting in barrel. To achieve the finesse that Denis so passionately strives for, a lot of attention is paid in the vineyard on keeping yields in check and a choosing only the best oak barrels to age the wine in which is usually a third new for the village level and about half for the Premier and Grand Crus. Simple and common sense winemaking with some healthy intuition is all Denis needs to craft these beautiful wines.
We've had the '23 just land in the store and picked up some more '22s for good measure. We have some of the 'Aligote' in '22 and '23 vintages - a fuller expression that sees about 20% new oak. We have the '22 and '23 'Bourgogne' which is one of the best of its kind on the market coming from 2 lieux-dits and spending 16-18 months in used barrels. The '22 and '23 'Côte de Nuits-Village' comes from 3 different plots at 300m altitude and spends as long as the previous wine in wood, except with 25% of it being new. The '23 'Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes' is sourced from multiple vineyards in the village and spends 16 months in 20% new oak. Finally, we have a single bottle of the monolithic '23 'Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes' comes from a tiny 0.44 hectare plot of 90 year old vines and is one of the most compelling wines of the Cotes-de-Nuits! Denis is a fantastic producer and although the word "value" usually does not belong in the same sentence as anything relating to Burgundy, is not out of place when describing his wines when you put them against others of similar value or more. Snap up your share before these are all gone!
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Chateau Grillet
Château-Grillet is by far one of the most unique and greatest white wines of the world. Nestled between the villages of Vérin and Saint-Michel-sur-Rhône, immediately south of the Condrieu area, Château-Grillet is a spectacular 3.8-hectare site rising dramatically above the Rhône from 150 to 250 meters. Château-Grillet is one of only 2 monopole appellations outside of Burgundy (the other being Joly's Coulée de Serrant) due to its extremely unique conditions that set it apart from the rest of Condrieu. Vines were planted on the site as far back as the third century by Emperor Probus and it has enjoyed a distinctly high reputation being in the cellars of the likes of Thomas Jefferson and King George IV. There were some inconsistent vintages in the latter half of the twentieth century; however, since François Pinault (owner of Château Latour and Clos de Tart) purchased the estate in 2011, there has been a significant push in quality to reaffirm the legendary wine's place amongst the best in the world.
The vines of the estate are perched on 76 dry-stone wall terraces (chaillées) and are worked by hand, hoe and horse-drawn plough. Unusually for the region, the property forms a south-facing natural amphitheatre, which is protected from the La Bise north wind. Here, the sandy soils are poorer and more friable than those of most of the Condrieu appellation, derived from decomposed granite, quartz, feldspar and mica, combined with wind-blown loess. The average age of the vines is 45 years, with the eldest now just over 70 years old. With François Pinault's vision of restoring Château-Grillet to its former glory; yields have been significantly reduced, he has obtained organic certification and is also consulting with the legendary Jean-Louis Chave. The wines are vinified in a combination of stainless steel and oak barrels, with a moderate amount of new wood and mature for roughly 12-18 months. The resulting wines are concentrated, detailed, saline and can age well for over a decade unlike most other wines made from Viognier.
We've managed to get out hands on all 3 of wines from the estate across a couple of vintages. These wines are extremely rare, especially in Australia where we usually only import about 200 bottles of the top wine. We have the 'Cotes du Rhone Blanc' in both the 2021 and 2023 vintages. This is also made from 100% Viognier and the selection of grapes that make the cut for even this "entry" wine has become even stricter since Pinault's takeover in 2011. These wines are an excellent chance to taste the greatness of the Château! We also have the 2020 and 2021 vintages of 'Condrieu La Carthery' which is a relatively new addition to their portfolio following a purchase of some vines in the Condrieu appellation right next to Château-Grillet. This is handled the same way as the top wine but is aged for a slightly shorter amount of time, producing a wine that is more pleasurable in its youth. Finally, the flagship 'Château-Grillet' we have in the 2019, 2020 and 2022 vintages. This wine has a marked minerality that is often never found in Viognier with a wide aromatic spectrum from floral, to fruity ad evnen notes of honey, nougat, hazelnut, white truffle and saffron. This is one of the world's iconic wines for a reason. Don't miss out!