2020 Coteaux Bourguignons, Domaine Jean Grivot, Burgundy

Domaine Jean Grivot

Jean Grivot took over from his father, Gaston, in 1955. He handed the domaine on to son Étienne – married to Marielle Bize from Savigny – in the early 1980s. When Etienne Grivot took over, the house style was for gentle, graceful wines, perhaps a little weak in lesser vintages.

Étienne has since found his own voice, making a range of increasingly fine wines. Since the mid-2000s, he has reduced yields and fine-tuned vineyard and cellar work. The next generation – Mathilde and Hubert – are increasingly influential, working under their father’s experienced and wise guidance.

Gamay

A French variety planted predominately in Beaujolais where it is the grape behind everything from light and often acidic Beaujolais Nouveau through to the more serious and well-structured wines from the 10 cru villages. It takes its name from a hamlet just outside Chassagne-Montrachet and was at one stage widely planted on the Côte d`Or. However it was gradually phased out due to its poor yield and supposed poor quality of its wines.

The majority of Gamay wines in Beaujolais are labelled as Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages and are deliciously juicy, easy drinking, gulpable wines. Of more interest are the Cru wines from the 10 villages in the north of the region where the soil is predominantly granitic schist and where the vines are planted on gently undulating slopes. These can be well-structured, intensely perfumed wines, redolent of ripe black fruits and, while delicious young, will reward medium term cellaring.

Gamay is also grown in the Touraine region of the Loire where it produces soft, well-balanced, gluggable wines for drinking young.