Domaine de Suremain (Burgundy)(4)
By Bertrand Celce 2009-3-3 11:35:34
We then go back to the surface where a bright winter sun is shining and making the cold outside temperature more bearable. After a few minutes warming up under 
the sun we go down again in another cellar in a different side of the Chateau. Beautiful stairs again, with the hard stone of the steps being worn-out like church steps. A Saint-Vincent wooden statue stands on the side of the stairway. As we head to the bottle cellar [picture on left] Dominique says that they bought a bottler line through a CUMA that they set up with 3 other wineries. The CUMA system is some sort of coop system that allows the French farmers and vignerons to group themselves to buy expensive machines and share the costs. It's much more cost-efficient than buying one just for the winery when the estate is relatively small and there's a counter system thanks to which they pay the CUMA back only in proportion of the number of bottles that they handled with the machine, so that the bigger wineries in this group of four pay more than the smaller ones.
We arrive in a vaulted cellar with massive walls of label-less bottles continuing their elevage there. Beautiful place.
About the picture above, which was shot a couple hundreds meters from Monthelie, the Domaine-de-Suremain Sur la Velle 1er Cru climat lies just below the vineyard building (also owned by Suremain). Above the building, on the right and on the left, lie the Clou des Chênes, the climat that was recently upgraded from Villages Appellation to 1er Cru. It is also owned by Domaine de Suremain. You'll find additional information about these Monthelie climats on this Monthelie page.
Another view of Sur la Velle (in the far), the walled Clos les Champs-Fulliot 1er Cru in the foreground (right) We now taste a few wines.
__Domaine de Suremain Monthelie Villages 2006. For sale since november. A blend from several climats : Rou Magnien, les Barbières and les Riottes
(now named les Hauts Bruns), a now-1er-Cru that they still vinify as a Villages. The wine is as cold as the cellar and we try to warm the glass with our hands which are themselves frozen... Fruity Pinot Noir. Nice mouth in spite of the temperature that makes the tannins more present than they should. Public price 13,5 Euro.
__Domaine de Suremain Monthelie 1er Cru Sur la Velle 2006. Nice aromatic complexity on the nose. The cold makes its opening sluggish. But very, very nice in the mouth after a moment. B. notes the finesse and the good lengh, plus the retro-olfaction with cherry notes. This year, in 2008 she says, they brought in only half of the usual harvest volume because of the damaged grapes.
__Domaine de Suremain Monthelie Villages 2005. Bottled in may 2007. Intense red, this Pinot Noir 2005 has some substance. Clove aromas, eucalyptus, spices. Ripe fruits, crushed fruits. I find the mouth less expressive in comparison, but B. notes the nice unwinding in the mouth and the silkyness. Same price as the 2006 (13,5 Euro).
__Domaine de Suremain Monthelie 1er Cru Sur la Velle 2005. Complexity and intensity. Red fruits, many aromas that the cold prevents from being fully enjoyed. More tannins than in 2006, more structure also. Nice, but this should be tasted again in 8 to 10 years, and why not 20 years, it should make it... The 2005, 2007 and 2008 vintages were pretty similar she says, with a beautiful late season.
Monthelie : view on the vineyards from the church's cemetery
We arrive in a vaulted cellar with massive walls of label-less bottles continuing their elevage there. Beautiful place.
About the picture above, which was shot a couple hundreds meters from Monthelie, the Domaine-de-Suremain Sur la Velle 1er Cru climat lies just below the vineyard building (also owned by Suremain). Above the building, on the right and on the left, lie the Clou des Chênes, the climat that was recently upgraded from Villages Appellation to 1er Cru. It is also owned by Domaine de Suremain. You'll find additional information about these Monthelie climats on this Monthelie page.
__Domaine de Suremain Monthelie Villages 2006. For sale since november. A blend from several climats : Rou Magnien, les Barbières and les Riottes
__Domaine de Suremain Monthelie 1er Cru Sur la Velle 2006. Nice aromatic complexity on the nose. The cold makes its opening sluggish. But very, very nice in the mouth after a moment. B. notes the finesse and the good lengh, plus the retro-olfaction with cherry notes. This year, in 2008 she says, they brought in only half of the usual harvest volume because of the damaged grapes.
__Domaine de Suremain Monthelie Villages 2005. Bottled in may 2007. Intense red, this Pinot Noir 2005 has some substance. Clove aromas, eucalyptus, spices. Ripe fruits, crushed fruits. I find the mouth less expressive in comparison, but B. notes the nice unwinding in the mouth and the silkyness. Same price as the 2006 (13,5 Euro).
__Domaine de Suremain Monthelie 1er Cru Sur la Velle 2005. Complexity and intensity. Red fruits, many aromas that the cold prevents from being fully enjoyed. More tannins than in 2006, more structure also. Nice, but this should be tasted again in 8 to 10 years, and why not 20 years, it should make it... The 2005, 2007 and 2008 vintages were pretty similar she says, with a beautiful late season.
From wineterroirs.com