Pascal Mugneret - Risk and Reward

Pascal Mugneret is a grower that has been on my radar for the past few years, having heard from multiple friends about the many changes at the domaine, of the quality of his farming and the improvement in vinification. Many notable growers in Vosne have called Pascal the best farmer in the village, not least Charles Lachaux.

(For context, I have listed a basic timeline of changes at the end of this piece)

The major focus of this tasting was to compare the Nuit Saint Georges Aux Boudots cuvée before and after splitting into their separate lieu dit bottlings. This was extremely thought provoking as the wines both highlighted the changes in farming and vinification choices as much as showcasing the individual personalities of Cras and Richemone and what they each brought to the blend.

The evening’s lineup

I loved tasting the progression of style and choices through this short window of vintages. It’s quite clear to see the impact of increased farming precision and vinification detail on the aromas, weight, texture and tactility of the wines.

For me, this tasting spoke of both the importance and the dual nature of open mindedness, the risk and reward that comes with a willingness to push boundaries and experiment.

Some would be too afraid of the many potential risks to pursue big changes and the possibility of improvement, this is something I really commend Pascal Mugneret on.

Tasting the wines, listening and reading interviews with Pascal, there’s certainly a sense of a well thought out rationale behind each change and experiment in the vineyards and cellar.

The 17 Cras was perhaps the silkiest, most lifted perfumed and high toned wine of the evening. But as delicious as the Cras and Richemone were individually, the tasting prompted me to question, were the ‘Boudots’ blends, particularly the 15, more complete, greater than the sum of its parts?

What choice is made then comes down to the values of the producer. How does one balance intellectual and physical pleasure? Such is the beauty of Burgundy but also the world of artisan wine as a whole.

In a world that’s increasingly interested in transparency and the nuances of site expression while also growingly obsessed with the rarity of old vine bottlings or special cuvées like Domaine Lamy’s Haute Densité bottlings or Duroche’s Hommage à Philippe, it’s then no surprise that a growing number of vigneron are choosing this same path. Yet there have been times I’ve tasted certain bottles and wondered if they might make more complete wines as part of a blend.

Having planted two (and more planned) haute densité blocks at 20-33k vines per hectare myself, this topic is of particular interest.

The impact of growing whole cluster inclusion during red vinification has made tremendous changes not only to the aromatic expression in Pascal’s wines, but most obviously in the sense and perception of structure.

As we progressed through the tasting, each successive vintage showed a growing and changing aromatic range, with greater definition of floral and spice character, but most of all, integration of tannin tactility into the flesh of the wines.

With the 13s and 14s, the wines were lovely, but the tannins felt separate and parallel to the rest of the palate, as though they were parallel rails on a set of train tracks, running in the same direction but fundamentally apart.

With each vintage and increasing proportion of whole cluster, that sense of distance shrunk until the two became one. While the quantity of tannin felt similar, or perhaps even greater, the grain was significantly finer. This combination of finer grain and greater integration made for a significantly silkier palate impact, allowing for a sense of gliding weightlessness but with great density and posture.

The 18s evidenced the other side to that dual nature of experimentation in that they were quite bretty and microbial, especially the Cras. This speaks to the difficulty and risks of using no sulfur in conjunction with high proportions of whole clusters during fermentation, especially with the increasing incidence of higher pH in Burgundy.

So what did I learn and what will I take away from this tasting?

Tasting Pascal’s wines, reading and listening to his reflections was a great lesson and reminder that ultimately my greatest responsibility to my wine, my work, my vineyards, and my team, is to continually refine, question and reinforce what I value most in wine by continuing to taste and learn.

What are the things that matter most to me? What are the values that will guide my choices?

With respect to the themes of the tasting, the choices to bottle two sites separately or to blend, as well as the choice of when and how to use sulfur, are both questions of balancing intellectual and physical pleasure.

As Pascal writes, “Decisions in the vineyard and winemaking are often very personal for each grower. I am no exception, and though I don’t doubt for a second that some may disagree with me, it is my intuition that guides me, informed by our vineyards and our domaine.”¹

It’s clear that all of this, particularly how one approaches experiments in the vineyard and cellar, is ultimately a personal choice.

From all the places I’ve worked and the wines that I’ve learned from, I know what matters most to me is the final wine in the glass, more than any process that comes before it. With that in mind, my only aim is to get sulfur right, not too much, not too little.

One of my goals this year is to learn more about the use of volcanic/elemental sulfur in vinification, how to prepare it, the differences in how it impacts wine, when and how much during elevage. But all with the goal finding incremental ways of improving my wine, rather than reducing sulfur use for its own sake.

Pascal’s willingness to risk mistakes is rare in wine and even more so in an historic and established region. Though I may not have made the same choices, there is much to glean from his approach, and I respect his commitment to his own values immensely.

“I really began reflecting on the use of sulfur four years ago. When, how much, in what way, and for what reason? The answers must be pertinent. If the reason is one of security, in order to sleep well at night, I don’t consider it a good one. More fundamentally, what does the wine need? The response requires intensive observation in an attempt to understand the cycles of wine: opening/closing, purification, oak absorption…”²

From Pascal’s own writing, the wines I’ve tasted in the past and those at the tasting, I know the experiments at Gerard Mugneret are made not for dogma or to chase trends, but in search of better wines.

It’s clear from his work and his wines that Pascal has his own calculus as to how he wants to achieve his aesthetic ideals and I hope he will continue as he has, by trusting his own observation and reflection. He may not get it right every time, but this is all a part of the process of learning and I believe it will lead to better wines down the line.

There is always so much to learn from others who are constantly questioning their own methods and challenging themselves to do better, but particularly from those who make choices that I wouldn’t necessarily make myself. To try to understand their logic, how everything fits together, helps me broaden my own scope of understanding, to find gaps in my knowledge and to find new areas for incremental improvement and experimentation.

Pascal’s example has reminded me and reinforced that what matters is to push the limits, to experiment in the vineyards and cellar with everything geared towards maximizing the potential of our site and its fruit, all in a way that is true to my own aesthetic ideals.

Tasting Notes

My favorites of the tasting were the 15 Boudots and the 17 Cras.

13 Boudots - Destemmed, while other cuvées of the vintage included 20-30% whole cluster. A little bit of VA, a little bit rusty upon first pour. Firm, intertwining tannin and acid, really 13 in that sense. The structure is still quite separate from the core of fruit at this stage. But beneath or perhaps parallel to the structure is a lovely core of lifted, crystalline fruit.

Raspberry, hawthorn, iron.

8/10 mins from pour, spice - nutmeg, cardamom, tamarind, fenugreek emerges, buttressing the sense of lifted fruit, fading the edge of rusty/iron va. The acid and tannin is still a little bit separate, but integrating.

14 Boudots - darker fruit, much more immediate spice, orange peel, nutmeg, cardamom, fenugreek is the first thing that hits the nose. Tannin density is similar to the 13, but the acidity is not as firm and doesn’t push the tannin as far from the flesh from the wine..

Sitting in the glass for 2 minutes, more rose petal, rosehip oil joins the orange peel and lifts the aromatics higher. There is a distinct sense of iron, slightly clayey firmness in terms of the texture, but doesn’t have the rusty VA edge of the 13.

Second glass is more lifted, with more Indian/South East Asian spice and orange zest. But the sense of tannin is still parallel to the fruit

15 Boudots - 40% whole cluster. At first the wine shows an edge of rusty iron like the 13. But then totally disappears after sitting in the glass for 5 minutes.

The wine then explodes with rosehip oil, muddled strawberries and bing cherries, orange zest sweet umami, very lifted. Of the wines so far, most floral and most expressive of Vosne/ Indian spice at the same time.

Tannin texture is the most fine and silken so far, with equal quantity, but is notably more integrated into the flesh of the wine and much finer in its tactility - speaking clearly of the increase in whole cluster usage.

17 Richemone - 100% Whole Cluster. A note of Brettanomyces when first poured, which is no longer present after 15 minutes. Slightly, earthier, greener, more vegetal.

Austere and solemn when the Cras is exuberant and aromatic. With air, lots of nutmeg and black cherry. With air and time, there is more and more purity of dark ( and some red) fruit, in some ways more vosne in its deeply pitched sour spice combined with a majority of black cherry with inflections of red fruit.

17 Cras - 70-100% Whole Cluster (cannot find exact number) brighter in color than the Richemone and brighter and more lifted aromatically. On a another level of exuberance compared to the 15 Boudots. More musky rose, rosehip oil, orange zest, more aromatic density.

This is the silkiest, most high toned and lifted of the wines poured of the evening, reflective of both a sandier site and it’s interaction with increased whole cluster usage.

18 Richemone - 100% whole cluster, 100% New Oak, only two barrels. Much more evident oak compared to previous wines, much darker in color pointing to higher pH.

Gets better quicker than the Cras of the same vintage, and is closer to the 17s in character of fruit. Perhaps speaking of the higher proportion of clay and less hydric stress. This gains fruit and purity through the evening but true to the character of 18 vs 17, this still skews darker and slightly microbial, but again reminds me much more of Vosne in its red/dark fruit combination and sour spice edge.

18 Cras - 100% Whole Cluster. Like the Richemone, an obvious toasty oak imprint, much darker than the 17 in color, again pointing to higher pH. Notably microbial, bretty and sweaty.

Still brighter than the Richemone in fruit, but very musky, feral almost. Very different from the 17. Remains bretty and sweaty through the evening. Both 18s and their increased impact of oak reflects their relative youth, but also speaks to the impact of riper vintages, alcohol being a powerful solvent, higher levels in warm years extract more flavoring compounds from new oak.

P.S

For context I’ve listed a basic overview of changes made from research online.

Changes begin in the vineyard as he returned to the domaine and grow into the cellar as he establishes himself and his father retires.

Overview of the changes:

From Pascal -

On his return to the domaine - “I also consulted with specialists in order to expand my knowledge on a number of different subjects: farming, soil microbiology, vinification, ageing, tasting, etc. This drove me to question certain practices. I started by changing the viticulture.”

“I stopped using herbicides in 2005 and discontinued the use of synthetic sprays in 2010. Great wines are not possible without respectful farming.”

Buys out his aunt in 2011, and his dad takes a step back from taking decisions.

2011 - “we began working biodynamically and the vinifications became less systematic, extractions much gentler. Still, the wines carried on my father’s tradition, a style that was inviting, generous, gourmand, even if the wines were sometimes closed in their

youth.”

2012 was when he really felt that the impact of the vineyard changes in previous years became evident.

His observations of the how the vineyard changes manifested:

“We observed more suppleness in our soils, increased biodiversity, increased resistance to disease, and our vineyards evolved: the vines were more upright; the symptoms of fanleaf lessened; dark green gave way to a brighter green, indicating better balance and a more symbiotic relationship between the vine and soil. The bunches took on another form, with longer stems and more aerated berries. Their health remained stable even in complicated vintages like 2013.”

Before BD conversion, he had parcels that had tight clusters and bigger berries that suffered often from botrytis, now with his conversion, the morphology has changed, the clusters are looser and the instance of botrytis is much lower.

He continues to refine his approach to working the soils today, recognizing the need to control competition but also appreciating that excessive cultivation kills soil microflora. Canopies are trimmed high, by hand between 1.6 and 1.7m, which means a certain portion of the apexes remain uncut as they do not grow that high.

2012 - Begins inclusion of whole clusters in vinification, increasing year by year, with no destemming in 2019 and 2020.

2017 - separates his ‘boudots’ bottling, which has no actual boudots in it, into their separate lieu dits of Richemone and Cras, which were allowed to be blended and labeled as Boudots by a historic decree of 1936.

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¹ The Domaine's Evolution, written by Pascal Mugneret (Nov. 2019) https://www.beckywasserman.com/domaines/gerard-mugneret/#.ZFvb0mQRXDs

² Ibid.