Manon is Yann Durieux's Chardonnay, named after his daughter and grown high in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. The 2019 is a precise, reductive white Burgundy made entirely without additions and bottled as Vin de France.
About This Wine
The vines grow at about 400 metres on the hill of Curtil-Vergy, close to the ruined Abbaye de Saint-Vivant de Vergy, the monastery that once owned the vineyard now known as Romanée-Saint-Vivant. Yields are tiny and all work is by hand. After a gentle pressing the juice ferments on its own yeasts and spends around two years in older barrels, with long lees contact and very little oxygen, before being bottled without sulphur, fining or filtration. The result is a white with the struck-match reduction of serious Burgundy and fruit that stays taut rather than broad.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Struck match and flint first, then lemon, green apple, white flowers and a touch of hazelnut.
- Palate: Fine and linear, with citrus, orchard fruit and a chalky thread that runs through the middle.
- Finish: Tense and saline, with a smoky close.
Serving & Food
Decant for about an hour to let the reduction blow off, then serve at 12 to 13°C in a Burgundy glass. It can be opened now and should keep developing for most of the next decade. Try it with scallop carpaccio, roast chicken with tarragon, or a mature Comté.
How to Enjoy
A white Burgundy dinner where the aim is to put a grower wine next to more classic names.
Product Details
Producer: Yann Durieux / Recrue des Sens
Country: France
Region: Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Burgundy
Classification: Vin de France
Style: Dry white wine
Grape Variety: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2019
Élevage: About 24 months in older barrels
Volume: 750mL
About the Domaine
Recrue des Sens roughly translates as a return of the senses, and it is the small estate Yann Durieux started in 2010. Before that he worked a decade alongside Henry-Frédéric Roch and Yannick Champ at Prieuré Roch, and earlier for Julien Guillot at Clos des Vignes du Maynes in the Mâconnais.
The estate began with just a few hectares of old family vines and has grown slowly through rentals. Durieux farms biodynamically and uses nothing in the cellar beyond grapes, which puts his wines at the purist end of Burgundy's natural-wine movement.