2020 Jean-Jacques Confuron Nuits-Saint-Georges "Les Fleurières", Burgundy, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

The soils in Côte de Nuits result on the consequences of the uplift of the Alps and the collapse of the plain of the Saône. The vines are mainly planted on limestone slopes. At the summit sits the famous "stone of premeaux", giving Romanée-Conti, Richeboug, and La Tâche outstanding wines. The soils are formed of calcareous scree, limestone, and red silt with a large diversity of terroir contributing to the typicality of the Côte de Nuits wines.

J.J. Confuron Nuits-St.-Georges Les Fleurières is a single-variety Pinot Noir red wine made by Domaine J.J. Confuron in the A.O.C. Nuits- Saint Georges / Côte de Or, Burgundy, France.

When the grapes selected to make J.J. Confuron Nuits-St.-Georges Les Fleurières reach the winery, they are completely destemmed and placed in cement tanks where they undergo cold maceration. The must ferments under controlled temperatures and with CO2 retention in order to preserve the full organoleptic potential of the variety.

The resulting wine is left to rest on its lees until it is transferred to barrels where it ages for 15 to 18 months, depending on the vintage, and it is bottled without clarifying or filtering and with minimal sulphur added.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

One of Burgundy’s most highly-regarded estates, the 20 acres of Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron are now controlled by Sophie Meunier-Confuron and her husband Alain Meunier. They took over from Sophie’s father in 1988, and converted all parcels to organic viticulture in 1990. The wines are brilliant examples of the concept of “power without weight”, with great depth of flavors wrapped up in refinement and elegance. The entire range is outstanding here – the Côte de Nuits-Villages “les Vignottes” is a tremendous value for the quality, and their Romanée-Saint Vivant is a reference standard for one of the most refined of all Grand Crus.

Alain & Sophie’s son Louis is involved at the domaine now as well, and their son Paul now has his own domaine in the south of France. (And they visited us here in Oregon in 2010 for the IPNC festivities.) Daughter Perrine is interning at Maison Alex Gambal in Beaune, and she too will likely head off to somewhere in Europe or the New World to soak up more experience.

There are not many cellars in Burgundy where the range of wines is so consistently superb from top to bottom. They are blessed with excellent parcels of 1er Cru and Village vines in Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle-Musigny and Nuits-St. Georges, not to mention two great Grand Crus – the Romanée-St. Vivant and Clos Vougeot. Alain’s style is one of supreme grace and elegance. The wines are seductive and captivating, but they never shout.

The vineyards come from Sophie’s side of the family, and we’re once part of the Charles Noellat domaine. With the sale of part of the domaine to Leroy and the splitting off of pieces, you can now see the Confuron, Leroy, and Hudelot-Noëllat parcels side by side in several of the appellations. Confuron farms organically, Leroy farms Biodynamically, and Hudelot-Noëllat treats their vines “conventionally” – making it fascinating to see these parcels one next to the other.