Louis Latour Agencies

Roadshow, part 2 : Henry Fessy

11 April 2017

In early April Jean-Philippe Archambaud winemaker director at Simonnet-Febvre and Laurent Chevalier winemaker director at Henry Fessy came to the UK to present a series of joint masterclasses around the UK. An action packed week saw them in Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol, Winchester and Fareham.

Today Simonnet-Febvre is probably best known for Chablis wines however Jean-Philippe spent the week showcasing the diversity of Northern Burgundy appellations he works with and discussing the company’s origins in sparkling winemaking in the 1840s.

Laurent Chevalier presented a selection of Beaujolais Crus from the magnificent 2015 vintage. Their unique domaine which extends over more than 70 hectares and includes vineyards in nine of the 10 crus, Beaujolais-Villages and Beaujolais Blanc.

In part two read about Henry Fessy’s wines, to read part one click here.

Winemaking

Henry Fessy practice simple winemaking techniques to retain the character of each vineyard. Handpicked grapes are brought to the winery, where 80 percent are destemmed. In a typical year maceration takes place for between seven and 10 days, the grapes are then pressed and the free run and press juice are blended together. In 2015 the grapes had very ripe tannins and they decided to extend maceration to 14-15 days. With the exception of Château des Labourons Fleurie all Henry Fessy wines are made without wood so as not to mask the individual fruit characteristics of each appellation.

Beaujolais Blanc and Beaujolais-Villages

Winemaker Laurent Chevalier began his masterclass with a tasting of the rare Beaujolais Blanc, which makes up only 3% of the whole region’s production. Made from Chardonnay, the wine was a real contrast to the crisp northern whites that preceded it. The drive from Henry Fessy to Simonnet-Febvre is around 250 kilometres and this showed in the wine which had riper fruit characters reminiscent of apricot. Henry Fessy’s Beaujolais Blanc is made in stainless steel tanks and aged on lees for six to eight months before bottling.

The second wine was the Beaujolais Villages. Laurent explained that there are three areas in Beaujolais. The north with granite and schist, the south with Limestone and the zone where these two areas meet with a mixture of the two. It is this central zone where Beaujolais-Villages vineyards are located. Henry Fessy’s Beaujolais-Villages comes from a 10 hectare, very steep, single vineyard site with 60 year old vines. This very old site is worked entirely by hand and produces a complex and concentrated wine.

2015 Cru Beaujolais

All the 10 cru appellations lie together in the northern half of Beaujolais on granite and schist hillsides. Henry Fessy’s domaine includes vineyards in nine of the 10 Crus which helps give them a unique insight into the region and each vintage.

Henry Fessy have two and half hectares over two sites in Morgon which they combine to create a balanced wine. One hectare lies on the Côte de Py hillside and brings structure to the wine, the other one and half hectares is in Les Corcelettes on flatter land and always brings a fruitier characteristic to the final blend.

Côte de Brouilly uniquely lies on Basalt hillsides on Mont Brouilly and has a very distinctive character. The wine is elegant but structured, with dark fruit flavours and is always less generous and more linear than the other Crus. Henry Fessy has 4 hectares in Côte de Brouilly.

Juliénas is one of the most northerly Cru and we found a powerful wine with savoury and herbal characters, good tannic structure and a long finish. Henry Fessy have two hectares in this cru.

Fleurie is always one of Beaujolais’ most elegant wines and Laurent told the assembled tasters that it is known as the queen of the Crus. The wine had distinctive white pepper and floral aromas and a juicy red fruit palate. This wine comes from a 5 hectare site within Henry Fessy’s domaine.

Moulin-à-Vent is known as the king of the crus and has a special terroir which contains the mineral manganese. The wine was full, with a generous mouthfeel and a ripe tannic structure. Henry Fessy has 2.5 hectares in this cru.

Henry Fessy bought the Château des Reyssiers vineyard in Régnié in 2011. Régnié was only granted Cru status in 1998 and is today one of the best value sources of Cru Beaujolais in the region.  Régnié follows Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent and is known as the price of the crus. Laurent Chevalier makes a special selection wine from the vineyard, taking the best grapes and producing a concentrated wine spicy cinnamon and red fruit characters. The vineyard covers 18 hectares.

Henry Fessy’s Château des Labourons Fleurie is another site where Laurent makes a special selection wine. Here he takes grapes from the best plots to craft a wine which recognises the history of this vineyard. The de Lescure family, who established this vineyard in the 18th century and owned the vineyard until Henry Fessy took over, aged their wines in wood. To honour this tradition Laurent now ages 10% of the wine in French oak barrels (5% new, 5% one year old), this does not bring wood flavours to the wine but helps bring a savour character with hints of spice and liquorice. This vineyard covers 14 hectares and is located on the hillside above the village.