After our visit to Vilmart, we moved on to Nicolas Maillart in Ecueil. What really drove me to visit this domaine was a wonderful bottle of 2012 Franc de Pieds I had last year in Reims.
Displayed in the tasting room of the domaine:
Nicolas was busy on that day but someone from the winery took us around. We were a little tight on time but we still managed to walk the chai and sit-down to a tasting.
His lineage:
His personal cellar and philosophy:
And the vintages he produced:
He has a very nice geological map of his area on the wall of his chai.
In the cave under the chai, we got to see the soil where some of the vines grow which is a very dense mix of clay and sediments that give it a stone like aspect and feel.
Nicolas purchased a new solar-powered tractor recently. Nice little vehicle:
His vineyard is planted to 65% PN to 35% Chard, Meunier and Petit Meslier. He works with oak and stainless and some of the reserve wines age in oak as well. What is somewhat atypical is that outside of his BSA and rosé, all his wines are single vineyards (parcellaire). It might speak to his love of Burgundy but also the typicity of some of his terroirs.
A lot of his wines have a deep golden color reminiscent of onion peel or oeil de perdrix. He does tend to pick later than most so maybe this accounts for it (probably the way he presses as well although I didn’t ask about it).
Nicolas produces around 150,000 bottles per year to now great acclaim as the guides and experts seem to like his wines. He exports more than 80% of his wines outside of France.
We started with the Platine which is 62% PN, 28% Chard and 10% Meunier. Base is 2020 with some 16, 18, 19 and 20 in there. It was disgorged in July 2024 and dosed at 2.5g/l. This shows a pretty golden color. This one felt taught and incisive. A little too austere, it turned out to be our least favorite of the tasting. I was a little surprised because I remember drinking this cuvée in Montreal and it felt richer. Going back to my notes, it was dosed at 6g/l when I last had it in Montreal.
The Rosé was a base of 2021 with 60% PN and 40% Chard. It’s dosed at 1g/l. Whereas his whites are deep colored, this rosé is barely rosé (onion peel). There is little fruit but it shows great minerality with a long stony finish. But, I felt this missed a little fruit and generosity.
We moved on to the Mont-Martin 2019. This is 100% Meunier aged in oak and dosed at 1g/l. Very nice wine. The nose is rich with toasted bread, read apple and roasted nuts. There is nice texture on this with still a very mineral and taught line to it. It ends on salinity and crushed stones.
Montchenot 2019 is 100% PN aged in oak with a dosage of 1g/l. It displays very distinct honey and honeycomb on the nose. It’s red-berried with a hint of spice and provides good chewiness on the mid-palate. Good length and again a very mineral and fresh finish.
Les Courzy 2019 is 100% Petit Meslier from mostly clay soils and dosed at 3g/l. This is a very good wine. I take it that the vines are rather young but it doesn’t show in the wine and can only assure great potential in future vintages. The nose is a little shy and floral but on the palate, it’s all kind of playfulness on the umami spectrum. Good texture and length once again with a saline streak to it.
Les Ronsures Blanc de Blancs 2020 is 100% Chardonnay on chalky soils. This displayed vinosity but there were over-taking empyreumatic notes to it. Two of us could not get over how smoky this was (burned wood) and we had a hard time getting other notes from the wine.
Les Ronsures Blanc de Noirs 2020 is 100% Pinot Noir and not dosed (nature) has an almost orange tinge to it. I really liked this cuvée. Its a chockful of red berries with spices. It’s plentiful and giving but with the fresh saline/mineral finish that I found in all of Nicolas wines.
The last wine was the Jolivettes 2020 which is again 100% PN on chalky soils without dosage. There is more structure and power to this than the Ronsures but also more chalk. It finished on a powdery chalky texture. Very nice wine as well.
It was too bad that we didn’t get to interact with Nicolas as his approach is very interesting and I am certain that getting his input in regards to the similarities and differences of the plots would have been invaluable.
I was also a little sad that I didn’t get to taste another vintage of Les Coupés Franc de Pieds as I still remember the 2012 vividly. I’ll just buy one instead 
.
But still, a very enjoyable visit and some very good wines.