This insider wine term to add to your collection is ‘micro-négociant’—or, ‘micro-négoce,’ if you think you can pull that off. What it refers to is a négociant—i.e. a wine label based on purchased fruit/wine from contract growers—that works on a small, more hands-on scale.
There are, of course, very large négociant houses that purchase a very large amount of fruit/wine from a very far-flung array of growers, and many of them make great wines—but Marchand-Tawse was conceived as being the closest thing to having one’s own domaine, and vineyards, as possible. Winemaker and vigneron Pascal Marchand, a native Canadian who first moved to Burgundy in 1983, and fellow Canadian/entrepreneur Moray Tawse have embraced a ‘vineyard-first’ mentality at their Maison Marchand-Tawse: They’ve acquired an impressive assortment of village, Premier and Grand Cru level vineyards across Burgundy, the vast majority of which are organically/biodynamically farmed, and release a wide array of small-production, hand-crafted Burgundies which impress us more and more with each new vintage. This wine was one of the stars of our recent sit-down with Marchand-Tawse winemaker Marc Fincham, who works closely with Marchand in both the vineyards and cellar. This Côte de Nuits Villages was the first of many he poured us, and it was a leadoff home run to be sure: perfumed, pure, energetic, and seductively supple. With price-to-quality like this, expect to see more from this fast-rising team.
Pascal Marchand has had some three decades in Burgundy to forge relationships, and he has made the most of it. Back in ’85, at the tender age of 22, he took over production at Clos de Epeneaux, in Pommard, and established a reputation as one of a new generation of winemakers who focused intently on vineyards and sustainable farming. He spent 15 years at Clos de Epeneaux before joining up with the Boisset family, helping them launch their Domaine de la Vougeraie and assuming management control of more than 90 acres of vineyards—which he converted to organic and biodynamic viticulture in short order. This was the cornerstone of Marchand-Tawse’s philosophy when it was founded in 2010, and, in our tasting with Fincham, the level of detail he rattled off on vineyard sourcing was extraordinary. As we noted in a recent offer, they treat each of their bottlings—most of them produced in extremely small quantities—like a beloved child.
The grapes for this Côte de Nuits Villages bottling are sourced from several vineyards in the village of Corgoloin, at the southernmost end of the Côte de Nuits, and Brochon, a village wedged between Gevrey-Chambertin and Fixin further north. The classic mix of reddish-brown clay and limestone is found in both places, although the site in Brochon mixes in some alluvial gravel. Vine age at these sites averages 35 years, with Marchand and his team supervising their partner-growers at every step in the process. Fruit is hand-harvested and 100% destemmed before fermentation, and the finished wine is aged a total of 16 months—10 months in neutral French oak and six months in vat before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
This Côte de Nuits Villages is a very generous, accessible 2014 red—not lush and juicy like a 2015 but not lean and austere, either. We found it exceptionally bright and vibrant, with a light garnet hue moving to ruby/pink at the rim. The nose is floral and fresh, with lots of red cherry, currant, and brambly wild berry flavors mixed with rose petal, lavender, and crushed stones. This is very fine-tuned and elegant, especially at this price point, enjoyable now after about 45 minutes in a decanter but clearly capable of a decade-plus of graceful aging in your cellar. Serve it at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems and classify it in your “red wine with fish” category. I’m thinking of something in the trout/steelhead/salmon universe, prepared as in the attached classic recipe. You will love this wine’s finesse and purity. Enjoy!
