Wine: 'They gave me carte blanche to do what I want.' Meet the producer who wants to put a screwcap on a Burgundy grand cru
"It is about quality, quality and nothing else." Grégory Patriat, winemaker with Burgundy newcomer Maison Jean-Claude Boisset, aka J.C. Boisset, is outlining the philosophy behind his award-winning wines, during a recent visit to Dublin. "We do not compromise on quality; we cannot and I won't," he says.
It is slightly misleading to describe Jean-Claude Boisset as a newcomer. The Boisset family firm, founded by Jean-Claude Boisset more than 40 years ago, is among the most successful négociants in Burgundy, with a turnover of €250 million, but while its wines may sell well, they are not respected in the right quarters. Jean-Claude's children, Jean-Charles and Nathalie, have decided to add a little lustre to the family name by rectifying that situation.
They recruited Patriat, then a rising Burgundy star with Domaine Leroy, to create wines under a new label that would measure up to the best. "They gave me carte blanche to do what I want." His first vintage was 2002, and he was surprised how good it was. The extraordinary heat of 2003 made that vintage very difficult, but in 2004 he believes that he got into his stride, and he says 2005 will be even better. Certainly, he is making waves; his 2004 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru 'Champ Gain' won Decanter magazine's coveted White Burgundy Trophy.
Patriat is an interesting young man in his early thirties, from a small village north of Burgundy. He does not come from a winemaking family, but after leaving school went to work in a vineyard. He learned the many skills of a winemaker as cellar manager in Domaine Leroy before joining Boisset. Patriat holds strong opinions on a number of key current issues:
He believes new oak is overused - generally he uses 10 per cent new oak and the rest are old barrels. "I don't like to taste wood."
He likes his wines to ferment naturally and will give them as much time as they need; he does not employ techniques such as stirring the lees to make the wine richer. He prefers lean, minerally wines.
He intends to be the first to use a screwcap closure on a Burgundy grand cru. "I don't believe any more in cork."
Although all his grapes are outsourced, he insists that no chemicals, herbicides or pesticides are used on the land or the vines.
Maison Jean-Claude Boisset makes more than 40 wines, though they are all small productions, with the biggest, at 9,000 bottles, the attractive entry level 2004 Bourgogne Pinot Noir (it retails at €15.99). This kind of micro-vinification can, in the right hands, lead to very special wines indeed. For instance, only 1,000 bottles of the Puligny-Montrachet (€69.95) were produced, while only 3,000 bottles were made of the sensual (and more affordable) 2004 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Blanc (see Bottles of the Week). These wines, along with others in the range, will be available at The Bottleshop in Kilmacud, Dublin 14, (formerly No 1 Vintage) from the beginning of August. Dublin restaurants La Cave and L'Gueuleton will stock the Bourgogne Pinot Noir. This list is likely to expand, according to Peter Roycroft of Liberty Wines, the label's new distributor in Ireland.
With small productions and relatively reasonable prices, particularly for Burgundy, it is hard to see how this can be a sound financial proposition. But that's not the issue, as Grégory Patriat happily admits. "It must be the best. I'm here to build a reputation, not to make money."