2020 SAINT VÉRAN La Roche Domaine Frantz Chagnoleau, Lea & Sandeman

SAINT VÉRAN

2021 La Roche Domaine Frantz Chagnoleau

IN STOCK
Grapes Chardonnay
Colour White
Origin France, Burgundy
District Mâconnais
Village Saint Véran
ABV 12.5%
Vineyard La Roche

Frantz's La Roche parcel was the least affected by the devastating frost - with only 20% bein lost, but he was then hit by hail in June and lost another 30%! What a year.. The oldest vines of the domaine, in Chasselas. A good pale gold. Usually the most concentrated wine of the domaine, says Frantz 'magnifcent soils, calcareous rubble on the surface, but 30cm down it's blue marl and the vines never suffer from drought - it's a nicely balanced vineyard'. Thankfully there is no affect of the frost except for the reduced yield - but there were no second generation grapes that can upset the overal maturity of the crop as they ripen later. These are very old vines with lots of millerandange so timing the harvest is always complicated enough to select the perfect moment.
There is lovely freshness once again - but sleeker and more breadth and heft too. Undeniablty Maconnais in texture and weight - but so finely polished and retains that signature lithe energy. Delicious and without doubt the beefiest of the Saint Verans here. L&S (Nov 2022)

*Case price discount: Mix any 12 bottles of wine (or 9 litre equivalent) or 6 bottles of Champagne, Spirits, Sweet Wine or Fortified (4.5 litres) to get the discounted 'case price' for each bottle.

Domaine Frantz Chagnoleau

Frantz Chagnoleau and his wife Caroline Gon, who was until 2022 also the winemaker at the Comte Lafon Mâcon operation, are rising stars of the Mâconnais. Together they have a small domaine consisting of 3.5 hectares of Mâcon in a single block in Saint Albain, and several small plots in Viré Clessé, Saint Véran and Pouilly Fuissé, making up 6.8 hectares in total. All the vineyards are organically farmed (Ecocert certified).

Great care is taken at harvest to pick at the optimum moment for sugars, acidity and aromatic precursors, and they will stop the picking between parcels if they think that the ripening is not even across the whole domaine. Grapes are manually picked into 25kg cases, so as to get whole, undamaged grapes to the winery. After careful pressing, a very non-interventionist vinification takes place with natural yeasts in oak foudres.

The wines are kept on the lees to preserve freshness until the beginning of summer, when they are racked and lightly filtered, before bottling before the next harvest, except for some of the top wines which are aged for another six months in tank in order to develop fully. The wines are in a style which is bright and incisive, expressive and pure - and well worth seeking out.

Macon Villages Le Clos Saint Pancras : 3.55 ha
These vines were planted in 2000. Frantz uses a little bit of new wood - 10%. Élevage in demi-muids. This is the most northerly plot he works and it is high (350m) - facing east and made up of mineral, stony soil.
Viré Clessé Les Raspillères : 0.73 ha
Planted in 2005. A 30% slope and poor soil, thin at the top. Originally planted with Gamay, it was abandoned after phylloxera, then brought back from being scrubland by a forester who was passionate about wine and who realised it had once been a vineyard.
St Véran Prélude : 2.3 ha
Poor, calcareous soils. 15% new wood in demi-muids (500l barrels). 45 year old vines in several plots - the earliest ripening.
St Véran la Roche : 0.42 ha
70 year old vines at 200m in Chasselas, on marl, in mid-slope. Some is aged in demi-muids, but mostly it's in barrel with 10% new wood.
St Véran à La Côte : 0.25 ha
The highest vineyard of the domaine at 400m, on red earth, in Chasselas. Aged in demi-muids with no new wood.
St Véran La Fournaise : 0.21ha
All aged in demi-muids with no new wood. The whitest and most mineral soil they have.
Pouilly Fuissé Pastoral : 0.45 ha
Pouilly Fuissé Madrigal : 0.25 ha
From Vergisson, (mostly 'en Carmentrant') and all aged in barrel, but no new wood even if some are recent.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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