2022 Patrick Piuze Chablis "La Butte O", Burgundy, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

La Butte O is a new cuvee started in 2020 from a parcel that touches 1er Cru Butteaux. Fermented and aged 60% in barrel and 40% in tank. The barrels are always from high-acid years, currently 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2010. Patrick explains that the first year that the barrel is used, there is not only an exhange of oak to the wine, but also of the wine to the barrel. So he avoids barrels that were first used in a warm vintage, thereby avoiding tropical notes from the barrels to his wine. All wines go through malo naturally. 

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

 Patrick Piuze arrived in Burgundy from Montreal Canada in 2000 to work the harvest with Olivier Leflaive. What started as a one month internship, turned into what has now become one of the more exciting Chablis producers in many years. After less than 3 weeks working with him, Olivier Leflaive recognized the talent the young Piuze had and offered him the opportunity of a lifetime by asking Patrick if he wanted to head up the new winery in Chablis he was building. For 4 years Patrick made the Chablis of Leflaive, then for 1 year he produced the Chablis at Verget, and finally he was winemaker at Jean‐Marc Brocard for 3 years. With so much knowledge and experience in the appellation it was time for Patrick to go off on his own, which he did beginning with the 2008 vintage.

Perhaps being an outsider has caused Patrick to view the traditions and the terroirs of Chablis with an even greater sense of reverence than one typically finds in a young winemaker. This reverence means that when he set out, he decided he only wished to work with vines planted in the original appellation of Chablis, which has expanded more than 6 times its original size from around 1,000 hectares to over6,000 today. As Patrick likes to say “I think the monks got it right”. After many years of working with so many terroirs in Chablis, Patrick has developed not only a great knowledge of the appellation’s vineyards, but also great relationships with many of its best growers. Through this network Patrick sources some of the top sites in Chablis including six 1er Crus and six of the seven Grand Crus.