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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
Perhaps the prettiest vineyard of the estate: oriented directly east, on the magic hill of Corton, in the northern part of the appellation in Ladoix-Serrigny, Clos Rognet is still surrounded by its old walls, whose charm is enhanced by the small size of the vineyard plot: just over one acre. The soil is of average depth, and fairly light in structure.
The vines are in perfect harmony with the stones: venerable... They were planted in the 20's with a selection which matures very early and which produces small cylindrical grapes, which could illustrate the chapter on Pinot fin in a viticultural text-book.
Corton is a wine which should be vinified with very little intervention; the concentration and the structure come naturally through a slow fermentation, and usually all you need to do is. Go along with it ?
Wine Information
Domaine Méo-Camuzet
Domaine Méo-Camuzet was founded at the beginning of the last century when Mr Étienne Camuzet began to select vineyards whose location and reputation were of particular interest to him. His daughter, Maria Noirot, inherited his vineyards but she herself had no children so, at her death in 1959, she bequeathed the domain to Jean Méo, who was then working in the staff of Général de Gaulle.
Maria Noirot et Jean Méo were distant relatives but the two families had close ties and Maria's will stated that "all should carry on", which of course has been respected. At that period, vintners under 'métayage', a sort of sharecropping agreement, were in charge of the vineyards and winemaking.
Jean Méo sold his portion of wines to famous local merchants. This agreement enabled him to pursue his Parisian career while keeping an eye on his Burgundian estate.
As of 1985, the estate began selling under its own label, directly from the cellars. And after 1988, it progressively took charge of the vineyards as the contacts with the vintners expired. Jean-Nicolas Méo, son of Jean Méo, then took responsibility and is now in charge of technical and administrative matters. He is helped in these tasks by Henri Jayer who advises him on winemaking and by Christian Faurois, vineyard manager.
The objective is to make wines with structure and delicacy - with concentration as well as charm. The balance of a wine is essential: refinement and complexity are the hallmarks of great wines and represent the desired goals throughout the wine making and ageing processes. Of course, this notion cannot be separated from that of terroir. For many years, the wine estate has rejected the use of chemicals alone and attempts to encourage a natural balance by using authorized organic agricultural products and specific practices, including ploughing, by paying particular attention to the vine-growing techniques which attempt to prevent diseases and keep yields in check.
These practices are not just for show: their objective is to achieve a harmony between the vine and its environment and to allow the terroir and climate, specific to each vintage, to express themselves.
Production area: 6ha
Grape varieties: Pinot Noir
Average age of vines: 50 years
Harvest method:
Winemaking:
Ageing: in new oak casks
Domaine Méo-Camuzet
11, rue des Grands Crus
21700 Vosne-Romanée - France
Tel/Fax +33 3 80 61 11 05
information@meo-camuzet.com
www.meo-camuzet.com
Vuosikerta 2001
2001 VINTAGE in Burgundy
A promising start to the new millennium...
Growing season and weather conditions
The winter, during which the vines lay dormant, was a mild one.
The first signs of bud-burst came early but wintry conditions in April accompanied by frosts in the most exposed vineyards slowed down the start of the growing season.
Spring, from May onwards, was marked by periods of fine sunny weather.
The first flowers appeared, precociously, at the beginning of June, but the process was then slowed by a recurrence of low temperatures. Flowering was thus spread out over a period of some two weeks and the resulting unevenness in the progress of maturation persisted until harvest-time.
The natural weight of the crop burden led many growers to resort to green thinning ("vendanges en vert") - cutting out superfluous grape bunches at an early stage to ensure a harvest lower in volume but higher in quality.
Maturation and harvest
July was cool and rainy. Summer only really arrived in August with sometimes scorching heat and high levels of recorded sunshine. Violent rain- and hail-storms caused significant damage to the vines in some localities.
Maturation proceeded under favourable circumstances and the physical condition of the grapes remained good.
A slight drop in temperature at the beginning of September together with some light rain meant that in choosing the right moment to begin picking, growers needed to be alert and exercise great judgement (given uneven maturation and changeable weather conditions), and to make the best use of dry and sunny periods.
The need to wait, in some cases, for the moment of optimum ripeness meant that the harvest period was prolonged. Maturity was variable with sugar levels ranging from moderate to very good, good levels of acidity, and variable polyphenol levels in the red wines.
Estimated yield totals 1.5 million hectolitres, a slightly lower volume than the 2000 and 2001 harvests.
Vinification and character of the wines
Vinification of the white wines proceded in a lesisurely manner and without incident. The red wines demanded more attention in order to extract the maximum potential from their colouring matter and tannins.
As of mid-November, the white wines are fine and straightforward, well-balanced with good concentration and well-developed fruit backed by firm acidity.
The reds are vividly and intensely coloured. They have a well-defined structure thanks to firm tannins and a good level of acidity. They are meaty, with agreeable and expressive fruit.
