J.M. Berrux - Nondegu 2019

A light but full flavoured Pinot. Notes of red fruit, fennel, cherry and floral notes. On the palate the wine is structured but charming. Crisp acidity balanced by sweet fruit and fine tannin. 

NERD NOTES

This is a tiny vineyard of very very old Pinot Noir vines in Aluze, near Santenay. The vineyard was inherited by friends of Jean-Marie, who are not vignerons and don’t wish to be. The vines have been grown organically for 4 years now, and are coming back to great vibrancy.

The grapes were harvested by hand over 2 days, de-stemmed by hand and then put into tank for fermentation. The wine received some gentle extraction from occasional pump over, then was aged one year in old oak barrels under the family home in Meursault, followed by a further 6 months en-masse in tank prior to bottling.

There are just 6 barrels of this wine for the world to share. 5 dozen in Australia total!

THE PRODUCER

Jean-Marie Berrux and his family live in Meursault, in a beautiful happy house which also contains an old cuverie and underground cellar. It’s not a big space, but just enough to produce and age the roughly 5,000 bottles of wine for their micro farm.

They are outsiders, originally from the Alpine region of Savoie. This is perhaps a blessing in disguise, as it meant Jean-Marie had no overbearing father vigneron to tell him how one must make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir using chemistry ! Actually, his parents had a big influence on how Jean-Marie farms, but in a very positive way. The family business was market farming, growing organic fruit and veg for sale around the Alps.

After a short taste of the city life, Jean-Marie moved to Beaune to study winemaking in the late 90s, then after a couple of years working with others to learn the practical aspects, managed to acquire 1.5ha of Chardonnay vineyards just outside of Puligny-Montrachet. He made his first wine in 2004.