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Country
France
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Region
Saint-Aubin, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy
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Founded
1973
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Farming
Lutte raisonée
We are huge fans of Olivier’s wines and they really do get better every vintage.
This is the benchmark for Saint-Aubin and he is a hugely respected and talented vigneron. It’s hard to think of someone more passionate, thoughtful and more hard working than Olivier – the resulting wines are among the most exciting in all of Burgundy.
Olivier gained experience at Méo-Camuzet before taking over from his father, Hubert in 1995. He is always thinking about how to make the wines more expressive, more stable, more age-worthy. He has decreased the quantity of oak and the level of sulphur used and is experimenting with longer élevage. The wines used to be more generous and now they are tighter, more austere – fresher but they require more time in bottle. The wines are aged with less new oak now and therefore have less oxygen meaning they need a longer maturation and 2 years in barrel (it is normally just 1 year for white Burgundy). This longer élevage creates finer wine with more stability.
Olivier says the chalky soils of Saint-Aubin remind him of Chablis and they make similar tight and straight wines.
The higher density plantings mean small berries with greater concentration, meaning double the work for half the yield, but the result is worth it.
Olivier Lamy’s meticulous and thoughtful viticulture is a source of inspiration for other vignerons up and down the Côte: whether it’s his high-density plantings, his practice of rolling canopies rather than hedging him, or his almost manic worth ethic, where Lamy is leading, others will surely follow.
William Kelley, The Wine Advocate, February 2020
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
| Wine | Blend | Vine age | Soil type | Vineyard area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourgogne blanc Les Chataigners | Chardonnay | Planted 1990 | 1.1ha | |
| Saint-Aubin La Princée | Chardonnay | Planted 1985 & 2000 | 3ha | |
| Saint-Aubin 1er cru Les Frionnes | Chardonnay | Planted 1935, 1960 & 1985 | 2.4ha | |
| Saint-Aubin 1er cru Clos de la Chatenière | Chardonnay | Planted 1964 | 1.25ha | |
| Chassagne-Montrachet le Concis du Champs | Chardonnay | Planted 2005 | 0.92ha | |
| Chassagne-Monteachet 1er cru Les Chaumées | Chardonnay | Planted 1970 | 0.23ha | |
| Saint-Aubin 1er cru Derriere chez Edouard Hauté Densité | Chardonnay | Planted 2000 | ||
| Saint-Aubin 1er cru Derriere chez Edouard Hauté Densité Vieilles Vignes | Pinot Noir | Planted 1960 | 0.95ha |
Viticulture & Vinfication
- Lutte raisonnée
- Hand-harvested
- Low yields
- Wild yeast fermentation
- High density plantings – up to 30,000 vines per hectare for the hauté densité cuvées
- 0-15% new oak, on average 10%
- No bâtonnage
- Low sulphur additions, only before bottling
- Long élevage
- Use of traditional pièce and larger, 350 – 600 litre barrels