Irancy

Anyone know if Dauvissat adds a little César to their bottling?

Thierry Richoux farms the Dauvissat vines on Vincent’s behalf, and some of his old vine plantings contain a little César; I wouldn’t be surprised if the same was true of Vincent’s parcel.

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What is César?

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It s a variety that does well when it hails.

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It pairs well with Parmesan and croutons.

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Funny guys… champagne.gif

Up to 10% (I think) of local variety, César, permitted in Irancy. I seem to remember from a previous visit that it adds some color and backbone to the PN since Irancy is so far north.

That’s the upside. But it can be tricky to ripen and be structurally coarse.

The 10% inclusion can be actually quite noticeable, since César is much darker and a lot more tannic than Pinot Noir. I’ve only had a few Irancys, but I do love the rusticity, grip and lean style of the best wines.

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As I recall, there is another variety allowed called Tressot. When we imported Irancy in the late 70s it was permitted. Don’t know about now.

In warm years Irancy can be quite good. We brought in the '76 and '78 and those vintages were quite popular.

Earlier this year I served Thierry Richoux’s 2003 Irancy Veaupessiot blind to some Belgian friends after a Roumier Amoureuses. They thought it was a very serious Charmes-Chambertin.

It’s an inherently very exciting appellation.

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Fascinating. Never heard of it.

Can you make some recommendations?

You guys had me at rustic and structurally coarse.

I’ve only had Irancy from two producers myself; Benoit Cantin and Franck Givaudin.

Thierry Richoux is the only producer I’ve had. Both Lyle Fass and Elden Selections import him in the USA. I’m enjoying the 2014 now, lean, lithe and a bit rustic. Irancy is a sort of “chablis” pinot, minerally and crisp. I’d like to try more producers but it’s not a “hot” area for importers.

Start with Richoux… when his 2015s hit the market, don’t miss them (it won’t be for a while as he holds wine back a bit; not all of them have even been bottled).

I’m going to spend a few days there later this year or early next to visit everyone in the village.

Patrick Piuze was telling me about a retired guy who made great wines, I’ll need to dig into my notes to find the name.

I dunno anything specific about the area, but here’s an educational article:


Gargantuan Wine
“Guess What’s In Your Bourgogne Rouge…”
September 21, 2015


“…You’ll probably never see an Irancy; in part because there aren’t many, and in part because Irancy are strangely earthy, alien reds, to which few wine buyers will commit resources. Irancy are always red, and are Pinot Noir with bits of César — a wildly tannic, rare grape allowed only in the Yonne region — growing in Chablis-like Kimmeridgian limestone marls. César can constitute up to 10% of Irancy reds.”
Auxerrois-Tonnerrois-and-Chablis.gif
“…As of 2008, a mere 10 ha remain of César. Very little exists. But you can be sure a négociant operation like Bouchard would quite likely have access to some! This doesn’t prevent some growers (Domaine et Vignoble de Flavigny-Alésia, Domaine Sorin-Coquard, Cave de la Tourelle) from bottling a pure César…an experience I would bravely sip once in the name of science.”

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There’s a yearly BIVB tasting in Oslo that I’ve attended a few times. On the one hand it’s rather obvious why quite a few of the producers present doesn’t have an importer, on the other one gets to taste a lot of small appellations that one rarely sees much of. There’s been a few Irancys of different quality,but generally at prefer the ones without Cesar (although Dauvissat’s is good, so if it has Cesar it disproves me) and the grape by itself seems to make wines with a brambly, rustic character structure wise, dark in colour and somewhat lacking infruit depth. I haven’t been a fan.

A tasting note from a month ago:

Thierry Richoux Irancy 2009. Brought back from the domaine a week ago by my brother. Color very light red, nice evolution. On the nose, light red fruit, bit of pomegranate and meat. More in direction of Gevrey-Chambertin. On the palate, not super lengthy, but already nicely integrated tannins. Price quality excellent (around 15 Eur). Goes to show that you can find some treasures outside the cote d’or. Irancy of dauvissat family made by same producer.

César is typically co-planted as I understand it - you don’t find plots growing apart.

There are some 100% césar wines. They smell terrible in most years - but I didn’t have to hold my nose for the 2015s ! The mid-palate flavour onward is quite interesting. César usually ripens up to 10 days later than the pinot, so blending the two is an ‘art’ :slight_smile:

For anyone who’s interested: Irancy

It’s my understanding he does not. I don’t believe he has any planted.

I owned the 2011 at one point, was quite tasty. I drank a 6 pack and tasted very Jura-esque, but was on a whole other quality level.