MACON VILLAGES
2006 Cuvée Botrytis Domaine de la Bon Gran
| Grapes | Chardonnay |
| Origin | France, Burgundy |
| District | Mâconnais |
| ABV | 13.5% |
This is very rare (as it is only made when exceptional vintages permit) it is the only fully botrytised wine made by Thévenet. It is fabulous, I am immediately reminded of my mother's wonderful homemade marmalade - pure but amazingly intense with little zips of apricot in the background. Gauthier explained as we tasted - that it is impossible to have good results with late harvest Chardonnay as the acidity levels drop right off if you leave the fruit out too long, however, the botryitis they get in certain years in this particular plot concentrates the sugar but maintains the acidtiy you want - this keeps it all so perky, yet rich and intense. Harvested berry by berry this epic wine has to go by the name Macon Villages as it breaks the rules for Viré Clessé but this is unlike any other Macon Villages you will ever try - a real rare gem. L&S (Jan 2015)
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Clear amber in hue with big fat tears, the 2006 Viré-Clessé Cuvée Botrytis was picked over a single trie as the Chardonnay is more fragile than Sauvignon Blanc or Sémillon. It has a very intense bouquet, almost Sauternes-like, pure clear honey, orange blossom, apricot jam and candlewax. The palate is exquisite in terms of purity and balance. The 2006 has a razor-sharp line of acidity and an ethereal, marmalade and quince tinged finish that leaves a dab of ginger on the aftertaste. One of the greatest sweet wines in the world - period. Drinking range: 2021 - 2050 Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2021)
(Decanter Magazine) 46-year-old vines cropped at 8hl/ha, with 202g of residual sugar. Superbly rich, lusciously elegant; quite impossible to guess its origin. A revelation. Drinking range: 2018 - 2026 Rating: 95 Steven Spurrier (May 2018)
The 2006 Vire Clesse Cuvee Botrytise comes from a parcel of vines with particularly strong marne soils that tend to produce botrytised grapes, this cuvée is 100% botrytised fruit, unlike the Cuvée Levroutée. So this comes packing with 204gm/L residual sugar. Lucid golden in color with green tints, it has a beautiful bouquet that you would think is a fine Sauternes. This is very pure and possesses breathtaking focus. The palate is stunning: exquisite balance, perfectly judged acidity and compelling honeyed, sorbet-like fruit that is somewhere between Sauternes and Beerenauslese. Upon reflection it veers towards the latter in style due to the lightness of touch and the absence of new oak that reduces heaviness in the mouth. It is a Mâconnais that will knock your socks off, so wear two pairs. Drinking range: 2017 - 2045 Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Sept 2017)
Domaine de la Bon Gran
The Thévenets' original and flagship domaine, in which Jean Thévenet's son Gautier is now formly in charge, still making wines which are rich and ripe and are given no oak at all, and yet which still manage to be the most complex and satisfying wines of the Mâconnais.
The main cuvée we ship is his top 'dry' cuvée, called 'Sélection EJ Thévenet', which, after a nervous few years in which wines with over 2g of residual sugar were not admitted into the appellation, is now allowed to be called Viré-Clessé. Gautier also makes tiny quantities of the highly sought-after Cuvée Levroutée, a late-harvest just touched by botrytis with the constitution and depth of a Montrachet, and infinitesimal amounts of his Cuvée Botrytis, a fully sweet Sélection des Grains Nobles style. Organic production.
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