Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020 - 48

O LD WO R LD

Remoissenet
Père & Fils
PIERRE-ANTOINE
ROVANI

FRANCE | BURGUNDY
A new team reinvented this classic négociant,
building a stable of growers and a signiﬁcant
domaine; their focus on biodynamic farming
yielded precise and powerful 2017s.
IN 2005, THIS OLD-LINE NÉGOCIANT FIRM changed
hands in a purchase spearheaded by New York
developer and Burgundy enthusiast Edward
Milstein. The investors installed Bernard Repolt
and Pierre-Antoine Rovani as the new leadership
and the two began seeking out prime vineyard
parcels in the Côte d'Or. In ﬁfteen years, they've
built up an estate of close to 100 acres mostly
in Beaune and Gevrey-Chambertin, all farmed
under biodynamics. Rovani essentially restarted
the négociant side of the business in 2006, compensating growers for meeting quality benchmarks, including restricted yields and harvest
dates. Some growers have worked with Remoissenet since 2007. Consulting winemaker Claudie
Jobard prefers very ripe fruit, which she ferments with ambient yeasts. She bottles the wines
without ﬁning or ﬁltering. -C.W.

Bollinger
FRANCE | CHAMPAGNE
Bollinger's expanding portfolio explores the dynamic power
of pinot noir as a still wine and as a Champagne.

GILLES DESCÔTES

2017 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes
($170, 96 points) Rather than a gentle caress,
this takes Chambolle's silken textures into dynamic
intensity that doesn't quit. Remoissenet purchases
this fruit from a midslope parcel where the vines
are between 30 and 50 years old. They produce a
powerful wine focused on scents of woodland mushrooms and wild berries, its earthy savor calling out for
food to match: an herbed roast chicken, crispy duck
breast with shredded duck-leg conﬁt and demi-glace,
beef Wellington...

FOUNDED:

1877
OWNERS:

Edward and
Howard Milstein,
Maison Louis
Jadot, Halpern
Enterprises
ESTATE MANAGER:

Pierre-Antoine
Rovani
WINEMAKER:

Claudie Jobard
VITICULTURIST:

Jean-Luc Parent
ACRES OWNED:

98
IMPORTER:

North Berkeley
Imports,
Berkeley, CA
48

2017 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru ($390, 95
points) Remoissenet purchased two parcels at the
northern edge of this grand cru in 2006; the vines
are now 60 to 75 years old. Since this wine aged
in mostly new French oak barrels, it helps to give it
plenty of time in a decanter before you plan to enjoy
it. As the wine evolves, you'll get a glimpse of what it
may become with another decade of age, feeling the
brisk tannins blossom along with rose-petal scents
and detailed dark-red berry fruit. Spend the time to
prepare your meal, perhaps a long-brined roast, and
marvel as the wine answers your efforts in kind.

2008 Champagne La Grande Année Brut ($170,
97 points) Pinot noir makes up 71 percent of this
blend (mostly from Aÿ and Verzenay); the balance is
chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Cramant.
Descôtes ferments the base wine in oak barrels,
adding to the concentrated power and structure, setting it up for long aging. The freshness of the vintage
brightens the wine's dark intensity, with notes of
spring wildﬂowers and morels and the youthful perfume of pinot noir.
FOUNDED:

1829
OWNER:

Société Jacques
Bollinger
CHEF DE CAVE:

2017 Beaune 1er Cru Teurons ($85, 94 points)
Remoissenet purchased these ﬁve acres of Teurons
in 2011. Of the three parcels, one was planted 50
years ago, one 75, and one is approaching 100 years
of age. The wine's aromas are intoxicating and a bit
wild: sour cherries with their pith and pits, and wild
raspberries, too. The steady freshness of its tannins,
even four days after opening, belies the wine's stamina; you could age it for a decade or more, and still
open it too early.

WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2021

BASED IN AY, BOLLINGER'S CELLARS ARE surrounded by some of Champagne's greatest pinot
noir vineyards, including the Côte aux Enfants,
assembled into a monopole by Jacques Bollinger
in the early 1930s for the ﬁrm's Coteaux Champenois, and Verzenay, where Gilles Descôtes,
the contemporary chef de cave, focuses his PN
VZ, the pinot noir Champagne that Bollinger
introduced this summer. In fact, pinot noir has
been central to Bollinger's wine since its founding in 1829, as evidenced by a cache of ancient
bottles discovered ten years ago behind a false
wall deep in Bollinger's cellars. "We found a
lot of red wine," Descôtes explains, adding that
"most from the 19th century and the beginning
of the 20th were from Bouzy and Verzenay."
That ﬁnding strengthened his resolve to develop
Bollinger's vineyards in those villages: The team
now farms two parcels in Verzenay, one in Louvoies and one in Bouzy, for the Brut Rosé. And
pinot noir from Côte aux Enfants in Aÿ contributed to the extraordinary 2008 Grande Année.
The team works all their red wine vineyards with
horses, and farms them under organics. Barrel
fermented and either blended into rosé Champagnes, standing alone in PN VZ or in Côte aux
Enfants, pinot deﬁnes Bollinger's style. -J.G.

Gilles Descôtes

Champagne Brut Rosé ($110, 94 points) Brisk
and bold, this mellows from a tough stance into long,
mouthwatering ﬂavors of red forest berries with a rich
oak structure. Five percent red wine from Verzenay
and Aÿ contributes to the color and to the lasting
depth of ﬂavor.

ACRES OWNED:

439
ANNUAL
PRODUCTION:

N/A
ESTATE GROWN:

60%
IMPORTER:

Vintus, NY

2014 Coteaux Champenois La Côte aux Enfants
($155, 93 points) Pinot noir presented as a red
wine, this grows on the south-facing slope of La Côte
aux Enfants, a vineyard noted for the high level of
active limestone in its soils. The wine is tight, with a
gamey edge to its ﬂoral red-cherry ﬂavors, and tense
tannins creating textural bliss: A cool essence of
pinot noir grown in chalk.

PHOTO OF PIERRE-ANTOINE ROVANI BY VISCO HATFIELD

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Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020

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