Our Growers:

Jean-Hugues Goisot and his wife and now their son are tireless workers and perfectionists. Saint-Bris lies just west of Chablis, and it shares the famous chalky soil and the cool northerly climate that is typical of Chablis. This terroir gives its wines a very distinctive character: it is more refined, firmer and more mineral than wines from further south in Burgundy. The Goisots practice organic farm-making on their 26 hectares (they are ecocertified in France and will soon have their biodynamic certification) with strict soil management and highly restricted yields. The winery itself is based around an old medieval wall; the cellar of the domaine is the old prison of the town (hence the name "Corps de Garde" for their reserve wines).

Goisot's Aligoté is powerful and crisp with the rich minerality that marks all of his whites. It is extremely clean, round and long in the mouth. Goisot attributes the quality of his Aligoté to a very rare soil type called Barrémien, which is an exceptionally dense clay. The wine is vinified and aged in vat in order to conserve freshness and fruit. Finally, his yields, off old vines (45-90 years old) are very low. This is an easy wine to serve as an apéritif.

Jean-Hugues Goisot plants all of his Sauvignon vines on the cooler north-facing slopes, on extremely

chalky Kimmeridgian soil (the great classic soil of Chablis). Consequently, he harvests late, and brings in very ripe fruit that benefits from a longer and slower growing season. In fact, of all his white grapes, the Sauvignon is always the last to be harvested. In addition, he is able to systematically put the wine through the malolactic fermentation, thus gaining in finesse without losing Sauvignon crispness. The Goisot Sauvignon de Saint Bris,is a superdry appetite-whetting wine.

Sauvignon Fié Gris is made from the grape Sauvignon rosé, which is apparently the ancestor of Sauvignon blanc and which is pinkish gray when it matures but clear when it is pressed. The Goisots' tiny plot of young vines is consequently available only in very limited quantities.

The Goisots' Chardonnay "Côtes d'Auxerre" is made from their younger Chardonnay vines, and it may be particularly satisfying to those looking for the equivalent of a very fine village-level Chablis. They say "younger vines," but half the vines in the Chardonnay Côte d'Auxerre are over 15 years of age; the other half are over 30 years of age.

Chardonnay "Cuvée du Corps de Garde" is a much more serious Chardonnay, from very old vines- 50 years and older. It is aged in barrel. This is a very long, complex Chardonnay that can easily rival a fine Premier Cru Chablis and that can age for a decade into a magnificent old white Burgundy.

Bourgogne Pinot Noir "Cuvée du Corps de Garde" is Pinot Noir from vines grown on the classic chalky soil of Chablis. The vines chosen for the Cuvée du Corps de Garde are over 30 years old, and in some cases 45 to 50 years old. The wine is fermented and aged in oak casks. The result is a Pinot Noir with flavors of wild cherry, spice and a note of licorice- and very smooth tanins.

Irancy les Mazelots is from a single Pinot Noir vineyard Les Macelots which is old vines (more than 97 years old). It is vinifed iin wood except for a maceration of seven to nine days in tank.