Domaine de la Cadette
We have been great fans of the beautifully crafted Vezelay wines of the Domaine de la Cadette for some time. We contacted Jean and Catherine Montanet and asked to visit their winery in the small village of St Père. They were wonderful hosts and we not only tasted all of their impressive wines but were given a tour of their vineyards scattered through the area.
We are therefore delighted that they have agreed to supply us with their range of wines, including some of their truly excellent Melon de Bourgogne. This grape is found in very few places in Burgundy.
This domaine practices organic viniculture, uses no pesticides or herbicides in the vineyard and no nasty additives in the winemaking process. The grapes are fermented using only the naturally occurring yeasts.
Domaine de la Cadette Bourgogne Vézelay La Châtelaine 2010
(label image below from older vintage)
La Châtelaine is one of Domaine de la Cadettte's best cuvées made from the
only permitted white grape variety in the Bourgogne Vézelay appellation, Chardonnay.
The wine comes from grapes from the vineyards on the pretty south-facing slopes of the Vézelay hills. The grapes are harvested by hand and then fermented naturally in vats (80%) and old barrels (20%). This is a beautifully-textured wine, showing that white wines of considerable elegance can be produced in this region.
RRP: $32
Domaine de la Cadette Bourgogne Vézelay Les Saulniers 2009
Les Saulniers is another white cuvée
made entirely from Chardonnay. The Les Saulniers vineyard is a beautiful parcel of land situated on an old road once
used by salt smugglers, who extracted contraband salt from the water at the
nearby "Fontaines Salées".
This wine was bottled in March 2010 after spending approximately six months in vats. It has a liveliness and freshness that is very appealing for such an elegant wine. The finish is very long and interesting.
RRP: SOLD OUT
Domaine de la Cadette Bourgogne l'Ermitage Rouge 2010
This wine is made primarily from Pinot Noir (80%), but it also has 20% of the
rare César grape that is permitted in
the Yonne region of Burgundy. This grape has been grown in this area since Roman
times (hence the name).
The vines grow on a very steep south-facing slope, in the rural district of Vézelay at a placed called l'Ermitage after which the wine is named.
This is a beautiful, savoury Burgundy with a lingering finish and with a hint of the exotic from the use of the César grape.
RRP: SOLD OUT
Domaine de la Cadette Bourgogne Champs Cadet Rouge 2009
While we originally approached the Montanet's because of their white wines,
we soon discovered that their red wines are equally as delicious. This red
Burgundy is made from 100% Pinot Noir even though small quantities of the César
grape are permitted in this region. The Champs Cadet vineyard is one of
Cadette's most remote and difficult with lots of stones littering the surface.
This is a lovely wine with a velvet texture provided by maturation in old oak
barrels, but also with the trademark freshness that makes these natural wines so
appealing.
Here is what a recent edition of the Kermit Lynch newsletter had to say about this wine:
"Renowned here in France, especially in Parisian wine bars, for its Vézelay blanc, Domaine de La Cadette makes this bottling under the generic Bourgogne rouge appellation, yet this is no generic Pinot Noir. It is from an organically farmed, stone-littered parcel isolated in the forests behind Vézelay. A sip of it is a veritable autumnal walk through the woods—you’ll find earth, wild cherries, and trompette de la mort mushrooms in there. Try to find that in your average over-cropped, wrong side of the RN74 Bourgogne rouge!"
RRP: SOLD OUT - NEW VINTAGE NEXT TIME
Domaine de la Cadette Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire Melon 2010
The
first time we tried a Melon de Bourgogne from this domaine we were amazed by the
purity of the fruit and the depth of flavour (this was at the iconic Paris
restaurant, Le Chateaubriand).
This grape is common in the Muscadet appellations found around Nantes near the Atlantic coast, however it has almost disappeared from Burgundy. We knew that there were very few producers of this wine left in Burgundy and even fewer who practice organic agriculture. So we set out to see if we could import it to Australia.
This Melon de Bourgogne wine is produced under the interesting Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire designation which also allows pure Gamay to be produced in Burgundy.
This wine is a great favourite of ours especially given the extremely reasonable price considering how little is produced. It is a perfect food wine marrying well with many flavours, but it comes into its own with terrines, parfaits, charcuterie and other light meat dishes.
RRP: $32
Domaine Montanet-Thoden Bourgogne Cuvée Galerne Blanc 2009
Domaine Montanet-Thoden is Catherine's domaine but the vineyards are
maintained by the same people and the wines are made by the same crew that make
the Cadette wines.
The vines are only twelve years old but are already producing excellent fruit due to the organic cultivation and the presence of lots of limestone in the clay soils. It is a great place for fossil hunting!
This is a lively 100% Chardonnay packed with white flowers and impressive minerality backed by a bracing acidity and beautiful, rounded flavour. The grapes are hand-picked and then pressed very gently. It was fermented in stainless steel using wild yeasts to provide added complexity.
RRP: SOLD OUT
Domaine Montanet-Thoden Bourgogne Cuvée Garance Rouge
This red is also from Catherine's Domaine Montanet-Thoden.
This red burgundy is a very good example of a red wine from the Vézelay region. The end result is influenced by the fossilised limestone soils that are found here - giving the wines a lively minerality. The grapes for this wine are hand picked from the small plots of vines, destemmed, fermented with native yeasts and matured in tanks. Little sulphur is added to the bottle to maintain the freshness of the wine.
RRP: SOLD OUT