Domaine Michel Briday "Cuvée Axelles" Bouzeron, Burgundy, France 2022

FROM THE PRODUCER:

THE WINE: The village of Bouzeron cultivates its odd one out: the Aligoté grape variety. It is the only communal-level appellation in Burgundy to produce it. However, the reputation of the Bouzeron Aligoté did not begin yesterday. In 1760, the historian Courtépée had already mentioned it in a description of the Duchy of Burgundy. In 1998, the village obtained an AOC, recognising its tendency to produce great wines. The parcels of the Briday estate are located at the top of the hillside on a white marl soil particularly well adapted to the aligoté. The soil is moderately deep but compact. After manual harvesting, the grapes are pressed immediately with care. Fermentation starts naturally (without the addition of yeast) in the vat. Maturation is also carried out in vats to preserve all the freshness of the grape variety.

THE PRODUCER: Sandrine and Stéphane are from this generation of winemakers who have been more involved in the qualitative renewal of Burgundy wines. Apart from a family wine heritage, Sandrine and Stéphane also inherited a requirement for high quality. This impetus was given by Michel, Stephane's father, in the creation of the estate. The quality of his work was rewarded in 1977, the estate's first real vintage when the Rully La Pucelle (a future premier cru) was awarded a gold medal at the Concours Général Agricole in Paris.

Faced with the preponderance of high-intensity agriculture with negative effects (erosion, weakening of biodiversity, pollution, etc.), they are among those winemakers who explore, or revive, ways which are more sustainable for the environment, human health and the quality of the wines. Their ambition is to be able to bottle all the subtleties and elegance of the great wines of Rully, Mercurey or Bouzeron. The estate's approach has always been to use as few inputs as possible. As early as 1996, the decision was taken to stop using weed killers and to return to full soil cultivation. The vine is treated only in cases of strictest necessity, after precise observations and scrupulous consideration. Once fully ripe, the grapes are harvested manually by a team of around thirty people. Vinification is also carried out respecting the terroirs. That is to say with a minimum of interventions. Only the natural yeasts present on the grapes are in the fermentation. In maturation, the use of oak barrels is judicious in order to let the wine play the main role in all circumstances.