LE GRAPPIN

Andrew and Emma Nielsen are an absolute treat. Their energy is intoxicating, often equal parts rowdy and thoughtful. They split their time between the UK and Burgundy, taking care of their sales and cellar simultaneously. They’re certainly clocking more miles than most each vintage.

Their focus is on sustainably farmed fruit from vineyards with true character. As each cuvée comes from a single site they try to capture the individuality mesoclimate, aspect, and soil can impart. They mostly resort to old-school techniques in the cellar, opting for minimal sulphur and a wide variety of maceration times. They are located in Beaune, but choose to make cuvées from the Mâcon, Beaujolais, and even the Rhône to round out their portfolio.

Their other obsession is packaging. They have been huge embracers of bag-in-box and refillable kegs, both of which are much better for the environment than glass bottles. Their bottled wines don’t have capsules, and, in the UK, they even pick-up and re-use the cardboard boxes their wines are shipped in. It’s this level of commitment we really admire.

2021 BEAUJOLAIS FLEURIE-PONCIÉ

This vineyard is planted on a ridge high above the village of Fleurie. This warm south-facing site tends to yield wines with similarities to Moulin-a-Vent. Being a traditionalist, Andrew used Jules Chauvet’s vintage notes from 1972 as winemaking inspiration. The wine is fermented whole-cluster for three weeks before being pressed off into neutral foudres. No crushing, pumping, or plunging was performed during this time. The wine is unfined and unfiltered.

2021 BEAUJOLAIS SAINT AMOUR

This lieu-dit is called La Grande Charriere. It is lower on the slope meaning the soils are a bit richer, comprised of a combination of granite, slate, and nourishing clay. Being a traditionalist, Andrew used Jules Chauvet’s vintage notes from 1972 as winemaking inspiration. The wine is fermented whole-cluster for three weeks before being pressed off into neutral foudres. No crushing, pumping, or plunging was performed during this time. The wine is unfined and unfiltered.

2021 MÂCON-VILLAGES

South of Uchizy, and North of Pouilly-Fuissé, this plot of thirty-year-old Chardonnay is in the town of Azé. Soils here are a combination of limestone and clay. The grapes were harvested in early September and were pressed into stainless steel without any added SO2. After a short cold settling to eliminate the gross lees, the juice was moved into 350L and 400L barrels. After seven months on fine lees without batonnage, the wine is lightly filtered and bottled.

2021 BEAUNE 1er CRU LES BOUCHEROTTES

Boucherottes is a lieu-dit located beneath Clos des Mouches and next to Pommard’s Les Epenots. Part of the plot is 40-year-old selection massale while the other component is Dijon 114/115. The grapes are fermented in nearly equal parts whole cluster and destemmed. After fermentation the wine is settled in tank before being racked to 300L barrel for eleven months. The wine is bottled, unfined and unfiltered under DIAM 10 corks to prevent spoilage and ensure consistency.

2021 SAVIGNY-LES-BEAUNE ROUGE

The Pinot Noir for this cuvée was grown in a small lieu-dit called Aux Fournaux. The sixty-year-old vines are at the bottom of the slope adjacent to Vergelesses and Lavieres. Soils are comprised to Bathonian marl and limestone. The grapes are cooled over night before being moved to open-top vat. 30% of the grapes were destemmed. After pressing, the wine finishes its fermentation in tank before being racked into 300L barrel for eleven months. Limited new wood was used. The wine is bottled, unfined and unfiltered under DIAM 10 corks to prevent spoilage and ensure consistency.

2020 SAINT-AUBIN BLANC

This wine comes from the plot of En l’Ebaupin above the village of Saint Aubin. There is a soft gradient between chalky Argovian soils at the top of the slope, to iron rich Callovian lime-marl near the bottom of the slope. It’s westerly slope beneath the Haut-Cote delays ripening. The grapes are gently pressed for three hours and allowed to settle overnight. After a day of oxidation, the wine is racked into 300-400L barrel for fermentation and élevage. The wine is bottled, unfined and unfiltered under DIAM 10 corks to prevent spoilage and ensure consistency.