Les Terres Blanches

The Chardonnay (90p percent) is leavened by 10 percent Pinot Blanc here. The fruit and oak are in perfect balance, rounded and welcoming, with a more reductive crunch behind. There are little hints of verbena. This is very complete and very beautiful. Elegance and great length. Bravo. Drink 2018-2024.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

With more than 35 vintages under his belt, Patrice Rion considers that 2015 is the finest of his career, offering elegance, acidity and persistence. They began picking on 5th September and finished before the rain which arrived the following weekend. The only sorting that needed doing was to remove any dried-out berries. The yields were acceptable, just 10 percent down in volume on the previous vintage. Unusually, Patrice and his son Maxime have used some whole bunches on certain cuvées, notably the Clos des Argillières and Clos St Marc.

This vineyard, with its very white soils, sits just above Les Argillières. There’s a little more Pinot Blanc this year (25 percent); the balance is Chardonnay. It has a brilliantly exotic palate, with lively sweet citrus and tropical fruit, and lovely white blossom notes. Delightful. Drink 2019-2024. Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

Patrice Rion and his wife Michèle began their own small domaine in 1990 with just two wines, Bourgogne Rouge, Les Bons Bâtons and Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras, while Patrice was still working as winemaker with his family at Domaine Daniel Rion. In 2000 Patrice left the family business to develop his own estate further. Today most of the vineyards are in Nuits-St Georges and Chambolle-Musigny. Recent vintages have seen the increasing involvement of Patrice’s son Maxime. The Rion cellar is a bit emptier this year, partially because of the frost but also, more significantly, because their arrangement in Chambolle for Villages, Fuées, Amoureuses and Bonnes Mares has terminated, and 2015 was the last vintage of those lovely wines. Maxime Rion initially found the 2016s a little “monolithic” after fermentation, but they have discovered their terroir in barrel. The vintage shows more red fruit than black, with the fruit of frosted vineyards having more colour. The long, cool end of season reminds him of 1996 but, whereas that vintage is only starting to drink now, the 2016s will open up earlier. The estate also has a new wine, a Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits from the Dames Huguettes vineyard. It’s made from bought-in fruit, but chosen from an especially well-sited and tended vineyard.

This is 10 percent Pinot Blanc, 90 percent Chardonnay; clear, bright and fresh with an absolutely beautiful nose displaying white flowers. There is a huge volume of fruit on the palate, with good acidity behind and really charming, dancing fruit.

Patrice Rion compares 2014 to a mix of 1979 and 1989 for the aromatics and delighted to have been able to pick a more or less normal-sized crop. He began on 12th September with healthy grapes, reinforced by his system of two sorting tables, one before and one after de-stemming. The amount of new oak has been reduced here, now just 30 percent on most cuvées.

This vineyard, with its very white soils, sits just above Les Argillières. Patrice and Maxime have been working on obtaining more texture in the wine by crushing the grapes before pressing and it certainly adds an extra dimension to the peachy, floral fruit and chalky limestone freshness. Drink 2021-2027.

Patrice explains that the hard work they did at the start of the year in pruning short and carrying out a severe de-budding, as well as a little green harvesting on younger vines, paid dividends in terms of avoiding excessive yields and consequent dilution. The dry and warm conditions towards the end of the season allowed them the luxury of choosing when to harvest, in fact beginning on 9th September. Patrice compares the vintage to 1979 and 1989, highlighting the wines’ impeccable balance and freshness (the latter he prefers over power) as particular strengths. Our notes indicate whether the wines are domaine or négoce bottlings.