Domaine Hubert Lamy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Rouge Derrière chez Edouard 2019

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Domaine Hubert Lamy

One of Burgundy’s best kept secrets is barely a secret any more. Olivier Lamy is making some of the purest and most mineral white Burgundies of the Côte (and some pretty damn handy reds) and demand now far exceeds supply. This will not surprise those who know how this exceptional vigneron works in the vines. Pioneer of high density and of Poussard pruning amongst other things, Lamy’s attention to detail and innovation in the vineyard is now an inspiration to knowledgeable growers across the Côte and even the world!

“I would blindly buy any of the white St-Aubin premiers crus…”

Bill Nanson, The Finest Wines of Burgundy

“These wines offer incredible quality for the price.”

Allen Meadows, Burghound.com

“Young vigneron of great quality, Olivier Lamy produces St Aubins that are worthy of comparison with the greatest wines of Burgundy…”

La Revue du Vin de France, les Meilleurs Vins de France

“Though known for his whites, Olivier Lamy has half-a-dozen reds in his range, the standout being the Santenay Clos des Gravières that exuded class and was way above its station. Overall, it was a bountiful crop of top-class wines from Olivier, continuing to reaffirm his status as one of the best winemakers in the Côte de Beaune.” 

Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate

It is hard to think of a more passionate, knowledgeable and hard working wine maker as Olivier Lamy. The family and the domaine are located in the village of Saint-Aubin, within a short distance from the domaine’s extensive array of vineyards spread around the villages of Chassage-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet and Saint-Aubin. There are records of the Lamy family growing vines since 1640!

Olivier gained experience at Domaine Méo-Camuzet in Vosne-Romanée before taking over the family domaine from his father, Hubert.

Olivier was one of the first winemakers in Côte de Beaune to favour the use of larger size barrels, and in the cellar there are many 350 and 600 litres barrels. Yields are kept low and following intensive work in the vineyards, the harvested crop passes a selection on a sorting table before being transferred to the stainless steel fermentation tanks. The wine making is traditional, and the wines are aged in 0-15% new oak (with an average of 10%) for 18-24 months before bottling.

While the backbone of this fine domaine is the stunning wines from Saint-Aubin, the jewel in the crown is its tiny holding in Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, located just above the vines of Leroy’s Domaine d’Auvenay.

In the Vineyard

Olivier gained tremendous experience through working in the vineyards, and adapts his own experience and believes in the way he plants, cares and treats his vines.

Among Olivier’s exciting philosophies is the planting of high density (haute densité) vineyards, which he believes allows them to capture more from their terroir. The first vineyard planted this way in 2000 was the top part of the Saint-Aubin 1er Cru “Derrière Chez Edouard”, with the planting of 28,000 and later 30,000 vines per hectare – three times the normal planting density, and effectively three times the work required to produce the same amount of wine. Not surprisingly, the result is overwhelming and this wine has an enormous depth and dimension.

The majority of the domaine’s vineyards consist of stony, limestone-based soil, with a thin 10-30 cm of topsoil, and have a favourable southeast exposure.

Winemaking

Below are my translations form Lamy’s website combined with some additional info

Chardonnay

Olivier was one of the first winemakers in Côte de Beaune to favour the use of larger size barrels, and in the cellar there are many 350 and 600 litres barrels. Yields are kept low and following intensive work in the vineyards, the harvested crop passes a selection on a sorting table before the grapes are whole bunch pressed, gently, using a pneumatic press and transferred to the stainless steel tanks. The wine making is traditional,  the juice is lightly racked into 1-5 year old 300L barrels and 600L demi-muids for fermentation with temperatures controlled using a cool cellar to aid a long slow fermentation of up to 90 days, shorter in some years and longer in others. The wines are aged in 0-15% new oak (with an average of 10%) for 18-24 months before bottling.

My experience is that such long, slow fermentation results in increased mid-palate weight and long creamy mouthfeel.

The Chardonnay is stirred a little to suspend lees and malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel. In August (11month after harvest). The wines are lightly fined with cassein (a milk protein) that will clarify them and remove some phenolics. Sulphur additions are made according to analysis.

The wines are bottled after 12-18months élevage.

Pinot Noir

Fruit is 100% destemmed. Maceration lasts around 20 days with pigeage and pumping over according to the season. 1-3 year old barrels are used for maturation. Malolactic fermentation is completed in barrel. The wines are racked, fined and filtered if necessary.

The wines are bottled after 12-18months élevage.

The 2019 Vintage at Domaine Lamy

Sometimes I contemplate what I think might be the easiest way to make enemies in Burgundy: A Michelin Guide-style ranking, out of three stars, of the region’s best domaines. Olivier Lamy would be one of three white wine producers in the Côte de Beaune to whom I would unquestionably award three stars. Last year, I wrote that I ran the risk of exhausting superlatives if I attempt to articulate just how much I admire these wines, and this year is no different. In 2019, yields were reduced by frost, averaging around 25 hectoliters per hectare, yet the wines aren’t defined by it as they were, for example, in 2016, when an abundance of second- and third-generation grapes complicated the choice of harvest date. Concentrated and textural, with prodigious levels of dry extract, they will demand more patience than his superb 2018s, yet in the end I suspect they will prove even finer wines. As ever, given Lamy’s cold cellars and his winemaking approach, the wines evolve slowly; this is far from the easiest tasting of my three months of visits, and I confess to succumbing to the venal sin of smugness at having left the afternoon empty when I witnessed two fellow critics arrive for our shared appointment fresh from six of seven preceding tastings. Attention to what is going on chez Lamy is liberally repaid, however, and behind the suspended lees and the reduction and (more rarely) the oak, it is apparent that this is a very special vintage in the making. Long after the sun set over the Côte d’Or, we continued tasting, looking at bottled 2017s and 2018s, wines that confirmed all the promise they showed during their élevage.

This year, as a flurry of early December snow fell outside, Olivier Lamy opted to show his bottled 2019s rather than his 2020s from barrel—a choice I warmly endorse, as wines evolve slowly in these cold cellars, where larger vessels predominate and nothing is done to accelerate the maturation process. As I wrote last year, in 2019 yields chez Lamy were reduced by frost, averaging around 25 hectoliters per hectare; yet the wines aren’t defined by frost as they were, for example, in 2016, when an abundance of second- and third-generation grapes complicated the choice of harvest date. In the same report, I described the wines as concentrated and textural, with prodigious levels of dry extract, and that was borne out in bottle: these are remarkable wines, built for the ages, and it’s hard to think of anyone in the Côte d’Or who more fully realized the potential of the vintage in Chardonnay. As my notes attest, these are brilliant wines, and it hasn’t happened by accident: rather, it’s the fruit of 30 years’ hard work. Olivier Lamy has conclusively smashed the glass ceiling that for so long has imposed upon the wines of Saint-Aubin. All the white wines are bottled under DIAM.

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Where in the World is Saint-Aubin

Saint-Aubin branches off from Chassagne-Montrachet. Containing some 20 Premier Cru’s producing 75% white and 25% red.

Produces like Lamy and Pierre-Yves-Collin-Morey are working hard to raise the perception of the village which produces fantastic wines.

Exploring the Geology & Geography of the Villages

In this video the villages of Puligny-Montrachet, Saint-Aubin and Chassagne-Montrachet are explored. Towards the end, you’ll note the discussion of the soils in the south part of Chassagne-Montrachet being the same as parts of the Côte de Nuits.

Oliver Lamy explore Domaine Hubert Lamy’s Saint Aubin vineyards through their geology