FrançaisWines Puligny-Montrachet Jacques Bavard
THE WINES
OF JACQUES BAVARD
SIMPLICITY IS THE ULTIMATE SOPHISTICATION
Historically, and until the mid-1970s, my paternal grandfather's wine estate was one of the flagship estates in the commune, and the memories of Chevalier, Bâtard, and other Enseignères wines have remained with me.
Today, this desire for excellence drives me when creating our wines; we offer a selection of grapes that are vinified and matured in the cellars of our house. My first vintage was 2005.
Briefly, to describe our work, we monitor each parcel from March and follow the evolution of the growth every three weeks on average, like a winegrower on their estate, and our preference at harvest is for freshness and minerality for the whites, and optimal maturity without excess for the reds, in order to preserve crunch and structure.
We do not blend from different plots, and limit our purchases to a maximum of 10 pièces.
Harvesting and Winemaking
Manual harvesting; choosing the optimal harvest date (monitoring the ripeness of each plot).
Great care is taken at all stages of harvesting, with sorting in the vineyard and at the arrival of the grapes in the winery to ensure impeccable quality and healthy grapes.
Gentle pneumatic pressing.
Settling. Débourbage (in our air-conditioned winery).
Prior to alcoholic fermentation, transfer by gravity to Burgundian ‘pièces’ (oak barrels), for a period of 12 months.
Careful selection of the origin of the wood (from the Allier oak forests), the volume of the barrels, and the choice of cooper.
Maturation
The whites are mainly matured in 350-litre pièces, 10% of which are new, the remaining being one to two years old; they are matured for 12 months in the wood and blended to spend 4 to 6 months in stainless steel tanks to give the wine its full expression. Tension, precision, aromatic structure and length are the precepts that guide us.
Our white wines are fined using clay in order to eliminate elements negatively affecting taste due to the presence of proteins, allowing all the aromatic potential to be revealed; filtration is not carried out.
For the reds, cold maceration for 10 to 12 days, then placed in 228-litre pièces with the same proportion of new barrels as the whites.
Our red wines are neither fined nor filtered.
Our wines do not undergo bâtonnage.
The wines are bottled at the estate using a neutral gas, and great care is taken with the cork, of superior quality and measuring 49 lines.
Wine tasting
Jacques Bavard offers a guided tour of the winery and cellars, as well as wine tastings, in order to bring together the world of wine and the terroir.
Average duration : 1.5 hours
Cost :from €10 per persone
Our wines
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Bourgogne blanc
Vines planted on sedimentary soil at the foot of the Chassagne village appellation. Rich and structured wines; harvested early to preserve freshness (60 Hl/ha; 15% new barrels).
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Auxey-Duresses «Les Clous»
Located opposite the Meursault hillocks; south facing. The clay-limestone soil of this lower slope provides structure, weight and power (49 Hl/ha; 25% new barrels).
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Santenay «Sous La Roche»
Plot located at the top of the slope and at the edge of the forest. Exposed to wind and bad weather; majority limestone, in the form of marl; favours fine and floral wines with great length. Its eastern exposure gives freshness at harvest without excess alcohol (45 Hl/ha; 25% new barrels).
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Saint-Romain «Sous La Velle»
Above the plots of the village, Sous la Velle is probably the one that deserves a 1er cru label. Facing east, its pure limestone soil skilfully structures the wines, and controls the yields naturally.
Maturation takes place in 25% new barrels, giving bearing and substance (59 Hl/ha). -
Saint-Aubin 1er cru «Combes Dessus»
Located above the slope of Puligny, next to the climats of Remilly and Murgers Dents de Chien, the south and south-west exposure of this plot takes us close to excellence. Growing on pure limestone for the most part, the grapes are balanced, powerful and tonic at the same time (48 Hl/ha; 50% new barrels).
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Saint-Aubin 1er cru «En Frionnes»
Historical climat because of its location around the village of St Aubin; the clay-limestone soil is the best fining method, resulting in a frank, fresh and structured wine. Vines facing full east for an expression of freshness (55 Hl/ha; 50% new barrels).
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Auxey-Duresses
Facing full east, the plot is mostly clay-limestone. Planted with Pinot Fin, we obtain pure, velvety wines without excess tannins. Red fruit dominates (35 Hl/ha; 25% new barrels).