Wine Advisor
Guffens Heynen, Macon Pierreclos Juliette et les Vieilles de Chavigne 2018
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2018 Mâcon-Pierreclos Juliette et les Vieilles de Chavigne is tightly wound and introverted, but its incredible tension and palate presence is impossible to miss. Unfurling in the glass with notes of crisp yellow orchard fruit, orange oil, nutmeg, fresh pastry and pears, it's full-bodied, deep and immensely incisive, with huge concentration and structuring dry extract, girdled by racy acids. Long and penetrating, this is one of the wines of the vintage in the Mâconnais. As readers will remember from the inaugural 2016 rendition, this cuvée hails from a parcel of vines ("Juliette") that were stunted by the 2003 heat wave and which have always produced tiny yields. The more generous yields of 2018 gave Guffens sufficient volume to fulfill a long-standing ambition to vinify them separately, and to this, Guffens added the fruit from his 1.05 hectares of old vines in Mâcon-Pierreclos, which yielded a mere 37 hectoliters. The resulting wine was fermented and matured in barrels, 50% of which were new.
About the Producer
Jean-Marie Guffens-Heynen is renowned as a Chardonnay master, who has played a crucial role in enhancing the reputation of Mâconnais wines. Through the success of his small Vergisson domain, this region has become a notable destination for wine lovers. In the 1970s, Jean-Marie and his wife Maine made the bold decision to leave their native Flanders. Within three years, they became the owners of several plots on the slopes of Pierreclos. Today, their vineyard spans 5.3 hectares across the hillsides of Pierreclos, Vergisson, and Davayé. The vines are treated with natural methods, without any chemicals, and grapes are hand-harvested only when they reach optimal maturity, sometimes in several stages. In the cellar, the grapes are gently pressed and left to ferment naturally with native yeast. The wine is then aged on the lees and never filtered. This simple, natural approach has earned Guffens-Heynen's wines a solid reputation for their purity, precision, generosity, tension, and minerality. They have become highly sought-after, but difficult to procure due to the low production quantities. Jean-Marie Guffens-Heynen's colorful personality is well-known not only in the Mâconnais but also as the owner of Domaine des Tourettes in the Lubéron (since 1997) and Château Closiot in Sauternes (since 2017). Domaine Guffens-Heynen has established itself as the ultimate reference in the Mâconnais, and Jean-Marie's talents in the vineyard are universally acknowledged. His mastery of Chardonnay has given new life to this region. Highly respected by his peers, praised by critics, and fervently sought-after by wine enthusiasts, Jean-Marie's wines have long stood out for their quality.
