Domaine Louis Remy - Chantal Remy
Domaine Chantal Remy is a wine producer based in Morey-Saint-Denis, a village in the northern Côte de Nuits of Burgundy.
Previously named Domaine Louis Remy before the death of Chantal’s mother in 2008, it produces wines made exclusively from Pinot Noir grown in small, high quality plots around Morey-Saint-Denis and Gevrey-Chambertin.
A Taste of Domaine Louis Remy - Chantal Remy
The history of Domaine Louis Remy – Chantal Remy is very representative of the unique Burgundian traditions that are of world renowned. The family estate has been headquartered on the same manor since its foundation in 1820, but its development follows closely the strict rules of Napoleonic inheritance laws. In fact, in France, a proportion of your assets must be left to each child in equal shares, this way, after inheriting a portion of the vineyard, heirs either have to agree to run a domaine jointly or one has to purchase plots from the others.
For this reason, despite the fact Chantal Rémy has run the domaine since 1988, in 2008 she saw it shrink to 1.5 hectares of vineyards after the death of her mother, with the rest going to her brothers. Luckily for Chantal, she inherited all the grand crus of the domaine.
From the following year, vintages from the estate are labelled as from “Domaine Chantal Remy”.
Today, Chantal has been able to count on the help of her cat, Petrus, and her son, Florian, who started winemaking on the estate since 2013.
Domaine Chantal Remy’s gem is probably Clos de Rosiers, a monopole vineyard that was replanted with vines in 2000 by Chantal and her mother. Before that, the plot had been used simply as a rose garden and, latterly, a tennis court. The vineyard itself is separated by walls, on one side of which is Clos des Lambray and on the other Clos de Tart, both of which produce renowned Grand Crus.
Over the past years, the domaine has applied to AOC in order to classify the wines as Premier Cru again. As the Appellation’s response was to check the quality of the wines over time, there are high chances Clos de Rosiers will soon regain its label.
Domaine Louis Remy – Chantal Remy produces wines made exclusively from Pinot Noir.
The monopole Clos de Rosiers produces about 1,500 bottles per vintage.
As the cuverie is now too big for the size of the vineyards, the domaine buys in some of its grapes from the surrounding vineyards and labels those wines as Heretières du Remy. Production is very small as Chantal demands high quality and sourcing good grapes can prove to be quite challenging.
Chantal’s son Florian has been the winemaker since 2013.
The domaine produces wines made exclusively from Pinot Noir. The process of viticulture and winemaking is very traditional, or on a “lutte-raisonée” approach, where chemicals, herbicides and pesticides are reduced to a minimum. It’s the most natural approach before organic certification. The vineyards are ploughed by one horse and the small extension of the surface in vines helps keeping the entire project as natural as possible.
The cuverie is located across the courtyard of the main house. For pressing, the domaine still uses tools from the 1940s. While not the most efficient, it certainly brings maintains tradition. The pressed wine runs to the barrel cellar below by gravity.
Between fermentation and bottling, wines are kept in barrels made for no more than one third of new wood. During the 20 to 22 months ageing, racking only occurs once and bottling is managed by hand, usually two years after the vintage.
For filtering, Florian is influenced by his grand-father, who told him “When you filter a wine, you undress it”. In other words, for a wine to look elegant “keeping the dress” is a priority.
Chantal preserves the Domaine Louis Remy – Chantal Remy’s tradition of making gentle wines. Typically, these wines are suitable for being kept for several years, and the domaine itself likes to hold back part of the harvest in order to be able to supply the affectionate customers with old vintages.
Chantal Remy’s wines have been defined as classic, delicate, ripe and finely-tuned Burgundies that demonstrate arresting purity, finesse and are designed for pleasure.
With so many to choose from, we offer the 2010 Domaine Chantal Remy Clos des Rosiers Monopole, Morey-Saint-Denis.
