Description

From a single parcel, 40-80 year old massale selection vines high on the slope. Thin clay topsoil, crystallized limestone and mineral sediments. Elevage 10 months old barrels, no sulfur additions.

Stone fruit and salinity here. Chiseled and bright. Green olive, lemon peel, beeswax. Harmonious and textured, purity pulsates. Salivating. Structured and with soul.

Clos des Vignes du Maynes is part of the Burgundian dynamic of parcel land registration by the monks. Its origins date back to the year 910, when the Abbey of Cluny was founded by the Duke of Aquitaine. Owned by the lords of the castle of Cruzille, the estate belonged to five generations of farmers before being bought in 1952 by Julian’s grandfather Pierre.

Despite the post war industrialisation of wine, he chose to make wines in an organic way, without chemicals, sulfur or filtration. Julian’s father Alain continued this path and was president of FNAB (National Federation of Organic Agriculture) in the 1990’s.
When Julian took over the estate in 2001, he was just 27. Passionate about biodynamics, he introduced the first preparations in 1998 before completely transitioning the entire domaine.

The estate consists of 7 hectares including the Clos which is made up of 2 hectares. The terroir is a composition of clay with limestone.

Advise from Marcel Lapierre in 2004 has dictated parts of harvest practised today. Marcel said that in complicated years he harvested with two buckets. Julien adopted this method and incorporates it every year. In bucket #1 you put the best grapes (in whole clusters) and in bucket #2 all those that need sorting, which are then classified into 3 grades.
Grapes are hand harvested and fermented in old oak foudres. For reds, his vinification is a mille feuille – alternating layers of whole clustered grapes and destemmed grapes in the fermenters, a semi carbonic fermentation. The whites are pressed slowly. Aging is sur lie in old barriques. Wines are not touched until after easter. Racking is done on a waning and setting moons, so that there is the quietest possible activity. The finished wines are without fining or filtration

Additionally, Julien also produces negoc wines, purchasing organic fruit from growers in Morgon, Chenas and Burgundy, growers he has been working with for 15-20 years.

The Maconnais was considered the poor cousin of Burgundy for a long time, but since the early 2000’s that has changed a lot. These wines have distinct characteristics of both fruit and minerality