Loris the Somm

The second day of the Black Wine Professionals trip with the Burgundy Interprofessional Wine Bureau (BIVB) meant traveling through time in our glasses and before our eyes as we visited some of the oldest cellars in region.

In 2017, the villages of Vezelay, Asquins, Saint-Pere and Tharoiseau were given the appellation level designation of Vezelay, distinguishing themselves from the regional designation of chardonnay, Bourgogne Blancs. This is a region that before phylloxera, over 5,000 hectare of vines that could be seen by the pilgrims who began rejoicing their journey’s near end.

The Croix de Montjoie, ran by husband and wife team Sofie and Matthieu Woillez, is positioned on a picturesque hillside, past the long ago erected cross that marked the end of a leg on a pilgrimage across Spain and Europe, and faces our lunch destination at the base of the Basilica of St. Magdelene. Sofie grew up in a winemaking family in Beaujolais, as did Matthieu, and after studying and working in wineries around the world found a plot in the old castle holdings in Tharoiseau.

It was amazing seeing the winery, located inside an old medieval farm house that was used to supply food for the castle, now supplies the neighborhood with a sunset winebar to escape the heat and respite with friends.

There’s a subtle pulse of tradition that reverberates through the ancient structure. The whip of fresh cool air from the nearby Mourvan cools us on the unusually hot day. Sheep are dozing off under a nearby tree for shade across from her freshly planted garden. Sofie looks upon them lovingly, and laments the loss of a landscape littered with an array of livestock and plantlife. “We are more focused, more artisanal,” but at what cost, Woillez wonders. In order to combat some of the effects of climate change, the winemakers have turned the clock back on the farm hoping that in doing so, the presence of biodiversity will help undo some of the human effects on the soil and protect her vines for years to come.

Vezelay is an almost unknown appellation. The domaines holdings showcase a different side of Vezelay, with higher altitude and clay soils, and unlike many producers, are located in a single plot. The singularity of place, as well as the similar soil structure, leaves nothing but climate, exposure and the winemaker to showcase the difference in wines. The Woillez family heritage of minimal human interference is palpable in every glass; each wine in her tasting lineup cascading with varying degrees of fruit and minerality intensity.

After tasting through the lineup, we explored the city and ended our tour with lunch at SY de la Terrasse at the base of the Basilica, where we ordered the wine I thought was the perfect expression of Vezelay for the day; L’Elegante 2021. The more complex blend brought forth a depth that wasn’t too full to enjoy in the all consuming heat, and the beautiful display of bright yellow and almost pinkish orange citrus and lightly honeynutted fuji apples reverberated like a soft breeze through the glass. It paired well with my fatty tuna salad, and our guide and Julia’s salads. The use of old barrels and stainless steel, as well as using different sections of her vines prove why Vezelay deserves distinction and a place at the table.

Even further north in the Yonne lies Saint-Bris, a village known as an old Templar stronghold with a complete underground city; a labyrinth of tunnels and rooms created to store people and goods alike, now house thousands of bottles and millions of mushrooms.

Domaine Bersan houses its wine in such a cavern connected to their cousins Jean-Louis and Jean-Christophe underground. Pierre Louis controls much more these days and allows father Jean Francois out on vacation and enjoy his new grandchildren. Pierre-Louis has been playing in this cellar with his cousins since he was a child, and knew very early on he would take over the family business. Armed with playful intentionality and the love of his family and their story, Pierre-Louis is mindful of what lies ahead for Burgundy. Like the majority of his counterparts in Les Aligoteurs, a small group of dedicated winemakers combating the extinction of Aligote, the lesser-known and frequently uprooted Burgundy grape, Pierre-Louis believes that a healthy vineyard promotes the best grape growing and thus has committed to making wine in the most natural way possible becoming HVE certified in 2019 and planning for more certification with the 2023 vintage.

Unlike Montjoie, Domaine Bersan produces nine different wines across Burgundy from Chablis 1er cru to Ratafia, but what makes the domaine special is it’s Saint Bris. Sauvignon Blanc was brought into this region in the early 1970’s after much of the indigenous grape Roublot died out due to phylloxera. It quickly gained some recognition but it wasn’t until 2003 Saint-Bris was graduated to full AOC status. The sauvignon blanc from Saint-Bris is unlike anything I’ve ever tried. The grilled pineapple, green apple salad, lemongrass coolness is almost too good to be true. It’s the perfect beach cocktail and still complex enough to be taken seriously on any wine list. Fye Gris, a grape Pierre-Louis is also passionate about saving, is the pink skinned grey mutation-cousin of Sauvignon Blanc and his 2020 vintage is like a strawberry margaritas much more elegant wine sister. The compacted, alternating layers of limestone and clay display a graceful dance of sharp citrus and grass with ripe orchard fruits and slightly tropical notes from the warmth of the sun.

Bersan’s understanding and exploration of the terroir that surrounds him extends into pet projects like his pinot noir based Ratafia, a vin du liqueur, made from grape must and and grape brandy, that he ages in an old whiskey barrel from 1900 and shares only on special occasions. Typically Ratafia is made in Champagne and rely on the blend for its grapes. Bersan takes full advantage of his closeness in climate and soil structure to be able to mimic a similar but distinguished product to the rare pinot based Ratafias of his northerly neighbors.

As we traversed through time from an old castle farmstead to an underground stronghold, Black Wine Professionals was shown the true magic of Chablis and the Yonne. Both of these producers capitalize on the traditions of the past to highlight grapes almost lost to time and they are not the only ones. As the change in temperature shows more vignerons the opportunity for a step back in the vineyard, many producers echo Sofie’s fear of what lies ahead. The trendy booms of natural wine and no sulfur added wines weigh down just as heavily on their very livelihoods as that of the climate vintage after vintage. Blending plots and returning to organics and biodynamics are only a portion of the solution when talking about an agricultural product. Pierre-Louis put it very simply,

“I want to make wines and have fun until I can’t make wine anymore.”

Pierre-Louis Bersan

When we put industrialized commercial pressures of the time consuming laborious ways of the past, the artisan is often sacrificed. Any winemaker will tell you, farming is not easy or lucrative, it is simply something that beckons you from the soil to the glass.

I went to dinner still giddy and ready to explore more adventurous and passionate, farm forward winemakers.