Auxey-Duresses 2017
Over the years, Auxey-Duresses in the Côte de Beaune has quietly made a name for itself with quality wines that rival the other great white wines from the “Golden Triangle”: Meursault, Chassagne and Puligny …
Origin
Nestled between the two famed villages of Volnay and Meursault, Auxey-Duresses has only 150 ha of vines, which has always meant that this appellation has remained out of the limelight. Today, however, it offers some of the Côte’s best value for the money.
Our Auxey-Duresses comes from plots located in the extension of the Meursault appellation.
Viticulture
Grape variety: chardonnay
Soils: mostly limestone.
Orientation: North-East
Surface area under vine: 0.31 ha
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 55 hL/ha
Average age of the vine: 35 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 11 September 2017.
The grapes were handpicked and were sorted a first time in the vineyard and a second time when they arrived at the winery.
At the winery: The whole bunches of grapes were gently pressed for 2½ hours. The temperature of the must was brought down to 12°C then was immediately transferred to barrels of 450L with no settling to preserve a maximum of lees. Long fermentation (up to 10 months!) using indigenous yeasts for added complexity and freshness.
Ageing
Maturation: aged for 20 months with no racking or stirring to bring out all of this wine’s minerality. 30% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: Oak of French origin toasted at low temperatures for a long time to impart a subtle, delicate touch of oak were used.
Bottling
Bottling: The wine was bentonite fined and very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity in May 2019.
Number of bottles: 1,800.
Vintage
2017, finesse
The growing cycle was thrown off-kilter by a very cold winter, late spring frost, then optimal conditions for rapid flowering, sporadic hail, and summer drought. Harvesting began in early September in the sun, and after several lean years, the vines finally produced abundant grapes, although with significant differences in maturity between whites and reds and from one region to another, which called for strict sorting.
Ageing potential: from 6 to 10 years.
Tasting notes
The color is bright pale yellow. the nose will seduce you with its aromas of white flowers, lemon, sweet spices, associated with mineral notes. On the palate, the chiseled and fresh wine reveals a nice roundness on the finish.
