Le Grappin Les Truffieres Montagny Premier Cru, France 2020

Producer: Le Grappin

Grape: Chardonnay

Where: Montagny, Burgundy

Country: France

Taste: Intense flavour and aromas- flowers, citrus, pear, peach and a noticable flintiness, as well as hints of hazelnut and pastry, to name a few. It has a great rounded minerality on the palate and a long finish.

Vibes with: Fish, Poultry, Spicy Foods

Vegan, Organic, Natural, No Added Sulphites

Additional info:

This is an archetypal Montagny, a subregion in Burgundy's Côte Chalonnaise that contains a staggering 49 Premier Cru vineyards. This one comes from a single vineyard called 'Les Truffières', from 40 year old vines that have never seen any synthetic treatments.

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Le Grappin is the project of Emma and Andrew Nielson, an Anglo-Australian couple based in Burgundy. After five years of apprenticeship in California and New Zealand, they eventually found their way to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay mecca. Until 2022, they operated their small micro-negociant out of Fanny Sabre’s old cellar inside the walled city of Beaune, just across the street from the town mayor’s office. In the summer of 2022, afrer over a decade of making wine in other peoples’ cellars, they purchased and renovated an old chais in the village of Meloisey in the Hautes-Côtes-de-Beaune, about 15 minutes from Beaune. The cellar was completed just in time for harvest 2022, and the Nielsens plan on moving into the flat upstairs sometime in 2024. The basic thrust of Le Grappin is to produce single parcel wines from the Côte d’Or, Mâconnais, and Beaujolais with as little intervention as possible along the way. Although everything is made under the same roof, the wines are divided into two ranges: the Côte d’Or parcels comprise the Le Grappin Line, while the Beaujolais, Aligoté and Mâcon bottlings fall under the Du Grappin marque. Both are made with the same degree of care, quality, and attention, with the main difference – aside from terroir - being that the Du Grappin wines are seen more as Vins de Soif compared to the more intense and age worthy Le Grappin. The Nielsens go out of their way to do everything by hand in the vines and the cellar and look to maintain longstanding relationships with growers not only to ensure consistency, but also a trusting and long-sighted approach to farming. Instead of seeking out the most famous sites, they try their best to be guided by the inherent quality in each parcel. As Andrew says, “These parcels don't have to be famous, they just need to have something to say, and with care and attention in the vineyard and the winery, my job is to let them share their voice.” This philosophy is put into practice by using little to no new oak, lots of whole cluster, indigenous yeasts, and only adding tiny amounts of SO2, usually just before racking. The wines are soulful, expressive, and vivacious. There is an upfront juiciness in all the wines, but given a few hours or air, or even better, and few years of cellaring, they reveal a stunning complexity and expressiveness.