Domaine Hubert Lamy Santenay 1er Cru Clos des Gravières Blanc 2018

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 2017 Vintage at Domaine Lamy

In contrast to the vast majority of his colleagues, Olivier Lamy described 2017 as having a “growing season that was even worse than 2016. In St. Aubin we got hit by the late April frost and we actually had less yield in 2017 than we did in 2016! The flowering was okay but not great as we had some shatter. Other than those inconveniences, the season was pretty straightforward and without further incident. I chose to begin picking on the 25th of August and happily the fruit was very clean and definitely ripe. We realized better yields in red than white though as I mentioned, neither were very high. Potential alcohols were excellent at between 13 and 13.5% with pHs of around 3.2. I limited the new wood to only 15% for the reds and used none at all for the whites. Both the reds and the whites have improved dramatically as they have aged in barrel and they strike me as classically styled and should be capable of aging well over the mid-term.” It’s no secret that Lamy has been on a roll over the last 5-ish+ years and 2017 will do nothing except enhance that reputation. Allen Meadows, Burghound

Where in the World is Santenay

Exploring the Geology & Geography of the Villages

In this video the village of Santenay is explored.