Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets

The life partnership of Laura Coffinet and Philippe Duvernay began like myriad other unions in Burgundy—two, generations-old winemaking families woven around a small, exceptional parcel of handed-down vines. Similar beginnings aside, Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay (est. 1989) have managed to stand apart from their neighbors in that their vineyard holdings reside in illustrious village of Chassagne, in the southern Côte de Beaune. Domaine Coffinet-Duvernay farms just seven vineyards in Chassagne, including the famed Grand Cru Bâtard-Montrachet. The estate encompasses seven hectares across the appellation in total, four of which are dedicated to its outstanding white wines, in particular Chassagne-Montrachet, and three hectares dedicated to red wines. This specialist estate produces beautifully crafted wines that capture the intense aromas and flavor of their distinguished terroir and which are capable of ageing for decades. Bastien, the couple’s son, has been working in the winery since 2012—the next generation to carry the torch for this unique property.

Chassagne’s 1er Cru Les Caillerets is noted for the large numbers of limestone rocks called cailloux which litter the surface of the soils. Sitting at the northern end of the village, Les Caillerets sits on a bedrock of dense limestone marble, as can be seen in the quarry just above the vineyard site.

Grapes are hand-harvested at optimum ripeness in small bins, and carried to the winery for a gentle pressing in the pneumatic bladder press. The must is allowed to settle for 24 hours (debourbage) to allow the gross lees to settle out, and the wine descends by gravity into small oak barriques for primary and malolactic fermentations. The must is stirred (batonnage) very rarely during malolactic fermentation as Philippe Duvernay prefers to allow the wine to develop without any oxidative notes. The wine is aged 15 months in 1/3 new oak barrels.

The vineyards at Coffinet-Duvernay’s 1er Cru Les Cailleretes are 70 years old, producing an intense, powerful, mineral driven wine of great focus and depth. Wet stones mingle with herbal notes in the nose, with an old-vines concentration of ripe pear, apple, and subtle nutty tones.