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Isabella Ilan at Le Chambertin

Isabella Ilan and I toured the vineyards yesterday and we took home a lot of photos. She also tasted a few grapes at Chambertin.

Finally! We have color in the vineyards of the Côte d’Or in 2010. Here are a few photos:

Clusters at Le Chambertin showing a bit of deep coloring

Véraison at Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru 'Les Chaffots'

Color showing in the clusters at Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru 'Monts Luisants'

Today I just confirmed my newest vineyard source for Maison Ilan. I’ve been given some fairly impressive offers for fruit this year. You can’t take them all, however. And so I have chosen to continue to be terribly picky in choosing my sources. The vines of Les Corbeaux are situated just against the vines of Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru. This is to say that there are no barriers to speak of between these 1er Cru vines and the Grand Cru vines. The soil and exposure looks identical to the naked eye. I imagine there to be additional complexity in the soil adjacent to Les Corbeaux, though it would be gradual. The vines are after all approximately 3 feet away from the Grand Cru.

The vines here are on average over 60 years old. To be more specific, there is a minority in the vineyard of some that are around 45 years old, and some around 70 or so. The majority are just around 60 years of age. With this source, my sources in Gevrey-Chambertin and Morey Saint Denis lineup is a bit more firmed up and altogether more exciting. This makes 3-Premier Crus and 2 Grand Crus, all in fruit. I’m really looking forward to following their development.

Cheers!

I just got back from confirming our newest vineyard source. Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru ‘Monts Luisants’, this site is quite impressive for a number of reasons.

Located in Morey Saint Denis, Monts Luisants has a few sections, one of which is even classed as village level. We are sourcing from a 1er Cru parcel. This site is far more rocky (tons of white oolite) than the Les Chaffots site that I source from, and quite a bit more steep. The vineyard is situated on a 27% grade! Another interesting bit is that part of Monts Luisants 1er Cru was actually parceled off into Clos de la Roche Grand Cru. With Les Chaffots 1er Cru being directly over Clos-Saint-Denis Grand Cru and Monts Luisants 1er being directly over Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, lets just say that I am in a very good mood!

Cheers!

After a very cold and wet winter, we have experiences a shuffling of the cards from extreme heat to unrelenting thunderstorms. I decided to pop back into the vineyards to see how the clusters were developing, and to see how the vineyards’ soils were processing the water.

Limestone littered soils at Les Chaffots 1er Cru

The soils looked great at each site, showing no signs of soil erosion or puddling.

Les Chaffots 1er Cru Cluster

Looking down a row of Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 'Aux Charmes' after leaf pulling

A few clusters of Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 'Aux Charmes'

Chunks of limestone found at Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 'Aux Charmes'

Clusters at Le Chambertin Grand Cru

Countless small limestone slivers at Le Chambertin Grand Cru

]]> http://blog.maison-ilan.com/2010/07/23/progress-in-the-vineyards/feed/ 0 Maison Ilan DSC_0035 DSC_0025 DSC_0020 DSC_0030 DSC_0034 DSC_0033 DSC_0037 DSC_0036 http://blog.maison-ilan.com/2010/07/16/wooden-press-renovation-progress/ http://blog.maison-ilan.com/2010/07/16/wooden-press-renovation-progress/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:59:31 +0000 Ray Walker http://blog.maison-ilan.com/?p=1273 ]]>

Sanding of the exterior staves of the press basket look very promising. Next week I’ll start on the interior portion of the staves. Should go well. In the meantime, the press will remain covered up to protect the wood from the rains which seem to come at the drop of a dime. I’m not too embarrassed to admit to frequently looking out the windows into the courtyard to check it out. I’m fairly excited about it.

Note: Some of the staves near the bottom look dark since they are wet

Cheers!

Note the birds in the lower section which correspond to the sites directly above

With so much thinking about the vineyards, I’ve buried my head in book after book. I had told myself that I wouldn’t open the Lavalle book unless it was for something important since the binding is nearly gone. I have recently decided to have either a new binding, such as what the Danguy et Aubertin 1892 has, or some sort of leather book holder.

As I was saying, I was to not open the book unless it was for good reason. Well, I’m finally having a website setup by a professional. And, we’ve been looking at some of these old photos in the books to be inspired. I decided it was about time to scan the lithograph of Gevrey-Chambertin from the original Lavalle book so I could stare at it longer without worrying about opening and closing the book. What is interesting in the litho is the method of identifying the vineyards. Small birds are to be found at the bottom of the page with the vineyard name next to it. If you follow in a straight line just above the bird below, you will find a bird in the depiction as well in the proper vineyard. Interesting, yet simple concept. Anyhow, please enjoy the litho.

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In 1892, Aubertin and Ganguy wrote a followup to the book that Jules Lavalle had penned roughly 27 years earlier, Les Grands Vins de Bourgogne. Jules Lavalle had taken much of the findings from Denis Morelot who in 1831 wrote a great deal on terroir, geology and wine in the Côte d’Or. While Jules Lavalle added the distinct class system to the earlier works and reported on the financial aspects at play, Aubertin and Ganguy got back to terroir and filled in with a great technical effort.

Inside the book you will find many engraved images of old Burgundy. Wineries that have come and gone (or simply moved) are illustrated in detail. Soil studies are shown with resulting reports on material breakdowns and comparisons. This is a very interesting piece for so many reasons. They break down the climats and even show average alcohol percentages and ph. Its interesting to note the vineyards which regularly produced wines in the 14% alcohol range, amongst other things.

There are still many more pages I have yet to explore in this book. Things like this are exciting to read. And, to be specific, they always add a level of humility and context to my own path. The vineyards have been here well before me and they will be here much longer after I have gone. The vineyards will always be more important than any wine maker.

This book is also a first edition, just like the 1855 Jules Lavalle book I picked up during harvest 2009. I wish you could find some of these writings easily in a book store. It would make things a lot easier to search out. The difference is the condition on this book is quite exceptional, seeming only 20 years old if just looking at the page quality. There is also binding which helps protect the delicate pages which are just under 120 years old. This makes it all very easy to just pick up and read it as was intended.

Last thing. When I’ve thought about ‘why Burgundy’, the answer has never been a simple,’to make great pinot noir’. The answer lies largely in the living history of the region. To read about people who made wine from the same vineyards, walked the same paths, and dealt with the same struggles as I am is truly inspiring. I know, sounds like a broken record. Sure. Yet every time I encounter something such as this book, it really closes the gap between history and today. Truly inspiring.

Cheers!

A row of Charmes-Chambertin and Le Chambertin

I finally took some photos in the cave. Every time I enter the cave I think back to how it looked when I first visited the house. Its a constant reminder to take advantage of opportunities as well as serving as a solid piece of encouragement. Here are a few pics. The whole 2009 vintage is lined up against one side of the cave.

Cheers!

3 barrels of Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru 'Les Chaffots' in the foreground

‘How are the vineyards looking?’

I decided to take a few shots from the different vineyards sites Maison Ilan sources from. This is important not only for entertainment, but also to track the vineyards progress.

Berries are filling in, with the caps completely pushed off.

Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru 'Les Chaffots'

Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 'Aux Charmes'

Le Chambertin Grand Cru

Enjoy the pics!