2019 Domaine Roblet Monnot Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune, Burgundy, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

The very high quality fruit he grows is brought into the winery where it is processed into tanks for a 2-3 day, pre-fermentation maceration (cold soak). No stems are used except for the ripest vintages of from the Volnay-Piture vineyard. All the other plots are fully de-stemmed. The fermentations are in these same open top tanks, most of which are temperature controlled stainless steel with a couple of wooden (oak) tanks. Cap management is by pigeage (punching down) and the wines generally get a 2-3 day cold soak before the alcoholic fermentation is allowed to start. Fermentations start naturally with indigenous yeasts and malo-lactic fermentation (in barrels) occurs naturally using the native lacto-bacillus bacteria.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Pascal Roblet can trace his roots in Volnay back to the 1600’s on his mother’s side, and back four generations on his father’s side. Pascal’s great-grandfather on his mother’s side, Victor Delagrange, created the domaine in 1865. Victor handed the reigns over to his son-in-law, Henri Monnot (Pascal’s grandfather) in 1926. Henri managed the domaine by himself until 1973, and then with his son, François (Pascal’s father), until 1989. When Pascal’s father retired in 1989, it opened the door for Pascal. In 1990, Pascal took over the family domaine and named it Domaine Roblet-Monnot.

All of Domaine Roblet-Monnot’s holdings (15 acres) are in Volnay. Pascal’s began practicing biodynamic viticulture in 1997. This, along with high density planting, (4,850 vines/acre) and very low yields (~2.5 tons/acre), are part of what has transformed this domaine into one of the leading producers in Volnay. His several premier cru cuvees and a few villages bottlings are produced in his small cellar, in the tiny hamlet of Bligny-les-Beaune.