Vallet Frères and Joel Robuchon
Recently I went on a trip to Burgundy organised by Boutinot wines. We were going to Gevrey-Chambertin, hopefully to catch the tail end of the vendange and participate in a bit of pigeage with the fermenting pinot noir must.
Vallet Frères is the négociant side of Domaine Pierre Bourée, they own 5ha made up from some Charmes-Chambertin, Gevrey 1er cru Champeaux, village Gevrey (including the lieu-dit monopole Clos de la Justice) and some Beaune 1er cru les Epenottes. Father Louis (now in his 80’s) is ‘retired’ but still keeps a watchful (if not interfering) eye on his son Bernard.
They are very traditional wine makers refusing to move with the times – no temperature control, no de-stemming, manual pigeage, small amounts (30%) of new oak, no filtering and no bottling for at least two years after production. They even hand bottle direct from barrel on a cask by cask basis. They do have quite a catalogue of old wines and I have been buying these for years; they may seem light and delicate when young but they age very well. I once listed 1971 Bourgogne Rouge from them at about £60 on the list, I had to hand sell it as everyone thought it was well past its best but the wine was still fine, soft mature and delicate with gentle strawberry fruit. It’s really because when you order their wines they come direct from the cellar where they have laid since bottling.
On the trip were Mathieu Longuerre MS (la Trompette), Steve Kirkham (RAC club), Laura Rhys MS (Hotel Terravina), Erica Laler (Texture restaurant) and myself. We were hosted by the charismatic Danny Spencer and the slightly ginger Nigel Wilkinson MS, both from Boutinot.
Danny in his usual style was keen to take us to Atelier de Joel Robuchon in London on the way there and then the Paris equivalent on the return journey. Who could refuse such an offer?
