Domaine Roblet Monnot The Profile ROBLET MONNOT is the domaine of - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Domaine Roblet Monnot

The Profile

ROBLET MONNOT is the domaine of Pascal Roblet who is the 14th generation of his family to earn his living as a vigneron (grape grower) in Volnay. He says that for all of his memory (and, to his knowledge, for long before he was born), his family has farmed using

• rganic principles with no pesticides or weed killers or
• ther chemicals. In 1997 he converted from organic

farming to biodynamics and since then has been a strict follower of the lunar calendar, even holding up shipping a container soas to be able to bottle at the correct phase of the moon.

The vineyards

While all the vineyards (which are among the most pristine in Burgundy) are in Pommard, Volnay (mostly), and Meursault, the actual winery is across the highway (and across the tracks) in Bligny-les-Beaune. Roblet does most of his vineyard and winery work with the help of just one assistant although he does have to hire pickers at the harvest. The vineyards are in and around the three contiguous Cote de Beaune appellations of Pommard, Volnay, and Meursault. Roblet has been gradually replanting the domaine with most of his new planting at the very high density

• f 12,000 vine per hectare. In most of Burgundy, 5,000 vines per hectare is

considered normal and 10,000 is considered high density. 12,000 is borderline fanatical.

The very high quality fruit he grows is brought into the winery where it is processed into tanks for a 2-3 day, pre-fermentation maceration (cold soak). No stems are used except for the ripest vintages of from the Volnay-Piture vineyard. All the other plots are fully de-

• stemmed. The fermentations are in these same open top tanks, most of which are

temperature controlled stainless steel with a couple of wooden (oak) tanks. Cap management is by pigeage (punching down) and the wines generally get a 2-3 day cold soak before the alcoholic fermentation is allowed to start. Fermentations start naturally with indigenous yeasts and malo-lactic fermentation (in barrels) occurs naturally using the native lacto-bacillus bacteria. The wines are aged in light toast, 30-month air-dried, all French oak barrels from one cooper (Chassin). The use of new barrels is carefully restrained to allow the purity and complexity of the fruit and the character of the sites to show through in the finished wines. The aged wines are racked only once about four weeks before bottling and that racking is from barrel to tank for the assemblage. This very protective, non-oxidative treatment is

• nly possible because of the very high quality of the grapes produced by meticulous, very

clean farming and the resulting healthy lees.

The Wine Making

Les Arvelets vineyard is centered on a steep south-facing slope at 886 feet of elevation northeast of highway D 17. It is surrounded by the vineyards La Chanière, Les Charmots and Clos de Verger.

Pommard Arvelets 1er Cru

VINEYARD

Taillepieds is a 7.16 hectare (17.7 acre) vineyard on the southwestern side of Volnay.

SOIL

Small stones with clay and limestone mix

VINE AGE

50% is 45 years old; 50% is 23 years old

Volnay Taillepieds 1er Cru

Volnay Saint Francois

100% PINOT NOIR

Village Wine but some juice is sourced from 1er Cru vineyards.

• St. François is a proprietary name. Pascal

Roblet’s father was named François.

Volnay Brouillards 1er Cru

100% PINOT NOIR

Brouillards

• riginates

from ancient French Breuil from Latin Brogilus from Gallic Brogilos “small territory” then “thicket wood, young wood”. At one time this land surely was wooded..

100% PINOT NOIR The vineyards are actually located in Meursault but are entitled to be labeled Volnay Santenots due to their greater resemblance to Volnay reds. There are six climats: Les Plures or Les Petures, Les Santenots Blancs, Les Santenots du Milieu, Clos des Santenots and Les Santenots Dessous. Owing to more clay in the Les Santenots soil than much of Volnay, the wines exhibit ample body and sumptuous texture without associated

• tannins. Only Pinot Noir is planted.

Volnay Santenots 1er Cru

Volnay Saint Jean 1er Cru

• St. Jean is a common term used for blends of

Volnay Premier Cru wines. It refers to John the Baptist. This wine is generally a blend of Premier Cru Robardelle, Mitans and Pitures vineyards. In years where Pascal does not bottle Taillepieds, Santenots or Brouillards, grapes from those vineyards could be in this blend.