Edmond and Anne Vatan - Domaine des Miquettes - Muchada-Léclapart - Minerality on 3 different terroir



Edmond and Anne Vatan, father and daughter, are considered the most rigorous interpreters of Sancerre.  They offer a single wine, the Clos La Néore, which takes its name from a small parcel of Les Monts Damnès and is produced from vines that are at least 60 years old, managed following the classic local tradition.
 The production has been gradually decreasing since the mid-nineties.
Since the 2008 harvest, Anne has taken over the management of the vineyard and the cellar, and under the watchful eye of her father, she continues to maintain production at the highest levels.
An iconic wine, risen to myth, which must be appreciated without haste and with great serenity.
60 years old vines
12 months in an unfiltered enamelled tank
2017 
In the glass it is a continuous evolution: it opens quite close with smoky minerality and intense ripe gooseberry notes, immediately passes on floral tones and then with officinal herbs, musky tones and erbaceous as asparagus and pea. The more you wait, the more it reveals itself, always keeping a wise freshness and a three-dimensional minerality.
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The Domaine des Miquettes is located in the south of the Saint-Joseph appellation, more precisely in Cheminas, a small village above Secheras and Tournon.
 It all began in 2003, when Paul Estève and Chrystelle Vareille decided to get involved and take over the reins of Paul's family farm, which was semi-abandoned at the time.
  One day Paul and Chrystelle, following a trip to Georgia, which was a source of profound inspiration for both, decided to start using the amphorae, or rather, the Spanish tinajas for fermentation and the buried Italian amphorae for aging.  They currently have twenty-six!  Overall, the estate includes five hectares of vineyards, one of which is syrah, one is viognier and three in Saint Joseph, divided between syrah and marsanne.  All their vineyards are certified organic, some are even worked with a horse-drawn plow due to the difficult position in which they are located, while the others with a winch and pickaxe.  The vines are grown according to biodynamic practices and fortified with clay and nettle decoctions, in order to avoid all types of chemical inputs.
   The entire harvest is carried out manually, while in the cellar only spontaneous fermentations are triggered by the indigenous yeasts present on the skins.  Usually the reds spend three weeks in the tinajas and then eleven months in the buried amphorae, while the whites spend six months in the tinajas and six months in the amphorae.
2016 Saint Joseph 
Was bright pure with meaty peppery nuance with incredible acidity and tension without showing any sense of ageing. 
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Muchada-Léclapart
collaboration between Alejandro Muchada and Champagne producer David Léclapart. A project based in Sanlúcar de Barrameda in the Marco de Jerez, on the historic pago Miraflores.
Three hectares of vines, two are of Palomino, and one is Moscatel. 60 and 90 year old of Palomino on massal selection, they ferment and age most of the wines in used Bordeaux barrels, which they keep topped up: avoiding the influence of flor. They keep the wine on its lees without moving it, and they use very small amounts of sulfur dioxide. Grapes are picked early in the morning, and then pressed whole bunch. Settled in tank overnight than wild ferment, in tank, and in barrel.
2017 Univers:
20 year old vines Palomino, from the coast of Sanlucar. Unfortified, no flor, in ceramic tanks, mineral and saline, precise and energetic. 
Fresh and salty with a long finish. Lots of tension and vertical on the palate. 
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Best

raffaele mastrovincenzo
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wine / spirit / lambic / drinker
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