2020 Domaine Serrigny * Francine et Marie-Laure Bourgogne Blanc
Burgundy, France
Burgundy is a dynamic and extremely fluid wine region which I demonstrated last month when we were touting the Jean-Marc Pillot Bougogne Blanc as a surprisingly approachable value. The "v" word isn't typically spoken in context with Burgundian wines by nature but we've been enlightened recently with the current 2019 and 2020 vintages. In fact, I think that I've found the sweet spot; look for small, passionate, family-run domains that practice minimalistic winemaking and are imported by people we trust. When prices in Burgundy are soaring and you sniff out a $30 Bourgogne Blanc that wouldn't blush around a bottle of Domaine d'Auveney Meursault, you have something really special. This wine transformative. If you've ever been spoiled with really, really good white Burgundy, you know what I'm referring to. The two talented young sisters that run this estate are remarkable winemakers that have devoted their passion of expressing the terroir of their home through wine.
Domaine Serrigny is a family operation deep in the hollow of Savigny-les-Beaune dating back to the early 19th century. Now run by the fourth generation since 1995, when two young sisters, Francine and Marie-Laurie Serrigny (then 23 & 25) took over the estate when their father died suddenly. Having grown up working harvests with their grandfather in their early teens, the Serrigny sisters were a force to be reckon with. They were inseparable for 17 years working alongside one another farming their sixteen acres of small parcels in Auxey-Duresses, Côte de Nuits-Villages, Corton Charlemagne, Meursault, Monthelie, and Pernand Vergelesses, and their historicly old vines in Savigny. In 2016, Francine succumbed to a long battle with cancer and her older sister has taken over heroically.
"She is clearly one of the top producers in her commune". -John Gilman, December 2022 - referring to Marie-Laure.
The farming practices are all sustainable and minimalistic and the work inside the cellar is nothing short of traditional. Grapes are still pressed pipeage or by foot, ferments are spontaneous, elevage takes place in older barrels and typically the lees and cap are not stirred on purpose to created a reductive quality in the wine that I crave.
This phenomenon used to be marked as a flaw in certain wines (mostly Burgundy) because it produces a reductive, flinty, struck matchstick odor that has some sulphuric notes. This reaction is the opposite of oxidative which is rather boring and makes the wine taste flat kind of like Spanish sherry. When oxygen comes into contact with the wine in tank, it starts to change things around. There are certain producers like Domaines LeFlaive and Coche-Dury that are known for this style and thrive. More and more producers are starting to realize that consumers are drawn to that smell and the energy and tension it creates in the wine.
The 2020 Domaine Serrigny Bourgogne Blanc is the over-achieving younger sibling that wants to emulate every mannerism their older brothers and sisters boast. As soon as the cork is coaxed out of the neck, the distinct aromas, more like pheromones permeate the air and they make me weak in the knees like the way a white Alba truffle does when it escapes the dining room. This reductive quality is utterly intoxicating the way older Riesling taunts your senses with petrol and spilled gasoline scents. Sparky and energized, you can literally feel the tension in the glass just from taking a whiff to the face. Reduction increases complexity and adds a subtle creaminess to the texture that is streamlined with bracing acidity. Tart, lime Italian ice, raw white onion, Picholine olive and quickly approaching Summer thunderstorm vibes in the nose as the reductive sensation starts to blow off. Under the first wave of complexity, the wine reveals an orchard of white and yellow fruit. Explosions of citrus peel confit, white flowers, bread dough and orange blossom emerge but the majority of the fruit is white and clean. Freshly sliced bosc pear and underripe crab apple leverage a chiseled attack of stony mineral and a jolt of acid on the mid palate. When I talk at times about how a wine has energy, this is textbook! Drinking it feels like I'm facing a panel full of wires trying to diffuse a bomb. There is no flatness, no flabby, goopy Chardonnay and certainly no butter bombs. The wine electric slides into the finish with very subtle hints of blanched hazelnut, beeswax and aged gouda. All encased in a membrane of crispy, saline-minerality. It even winks goodbye with a whiff of jasmine and white hydrangea. This is another wine that I could sit for hours writing about because it's constantly changing, evolving, and surprising at every level. It honestly reminds me of some of my most cherished White Burgundy adventures and it's only $30! I could drink the entire bottle with a grilled turbot and a pitcher full of beurre blanc and die happy.
On a lighter note, it paired wonderfully with my winter citrus salad loaded with roasted hazelnuts, pickled fennel, rosemary, pine nuts, creamy ricotta cheese and Spanish olive oil.
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Marie-Laure only make about 400 cases each vintage. Most of the wine is grown in the northeast corner of Meursault; an acre of mature vines planted in Herbeux and another acre spread between Les Malpoiriers and Lombois. The grapes from these prestigious sites are augmented by grapes from a third of an acre planted in 1993 in Savigny-les-Beaune's Les Perrières, a very rocky, calcareous vineyard that is one of the highest in that commune. Marie-Laure is making declassified Meursault and bottling it under Bourgogne Blanc and it is really turning me on. This is one wine that I'm going to be showing off with at dinner parties and catering gigs all year unless you are smart enough to buy me out.
~~~~White Burgundy Deal of the Century~~~~
Shelf Price: $44.99
Average WineSearcher Price: $49
6pk Price: $210
Case Price: $360
(only $30 per bottle!)
*best price in the country!
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Mike O'Connell Jr.
Third Generation Expert Purveyor of
Fine Wines & Spirits
@ Upper Falls Liquors, Newton
*Post Road Liquors
*Needham Wine & Spirits
*Auburndale Wine & Spirits
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