The Uncontested Master of St Romain
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The Alain Gras Mountain Top Vineyards in St Romain-Le Haut
Great white, affordable Cote de Beaune Burgundy is worth an effort, I said to myself, as the clock reminded me that I had been on the knife-edge of one mountainous ridge and then another searching for Alain Gras’s house for over an hour.
I went into my tenth paper clip turn of the morning and encountered a herd of goats and a symphony of bleating. The herder shook his head as if to bemoan the lemming-like rush, rush of modern life. As I waited for the road to clear, a (must-be) octogenarian on her vintage, gearless bicycle clutching about five baguettes slipped through a crack in the herd and left me in the dust.
Burgundy. There is nothing quite like it. Now, if I could only find the wine.
“This small, enthusiastic, impeccable winemaker frequently produces the best wines from the appellation of Saint-Romain. Alain Gras has only 12.35 acres, but obtains an elegance and character in his wines that make them all outstanding values for their quality. My favorite Gras wine is his lovely,floral, stylish “Saint-Romain Blanc” from a 2.47 acre parcel. He ages his wine in one-third new oak and bottles it after six months of cask aging.” Robert Parker
Alain Gras’s 17th century paradise is west of Meursault, up a winding, mountainous road, through St-Romain and then farther up to St-Romain-le-Haut. The Domaine perches on a one hundred foot cliff and the vineyards are about twenty feet from you no matter where you are. From here, you can look down on all of those places you associate with Burgundy: Puligny Montrachet, Meursault, Volnay, Pommard.
Alain comes bounding out to greet me, all smiles, flanked by a couple of his hunting dogs, all tongues. Alain Gras made his first wine in 1982 and his star has risen steadily since then. He is an enthusiastic and energetic person and it’s written all over him: I love my job. Alain Gras deserves his reputation. It takes skill and diligence to make a great St-Romain. The high altitude means lower temperatures which can result in a more acidic wine in the hands of a less skillful grower, but Alain Gras knows what he is doing. Of course in the blast furnace summer of 2003 his high altitude, cooler site had great advantages and he made an outstanding wine versus some white Burgundies that suffered from too much heat and lost their acidic spark.
Alain Gras has never wavered from his mission to put St. Romain on the map. He leads the other growers by example with his “green harvest” to lower the number of grapes on the vine to increase the concentration of the remaining ones. He uses a “sorting table” to ensure that only the best and ripest grapes get into the final wine. He does not like to tamper much with nature, but prefers the true character of the wine to reveal itself unmasked. A not uncommon reaction after a glass of Gras’ St. Romain might be: it’s better than two-thirds of the Chassagne-Montrachet out there (Chassagne-Montrachet is quite rarified and starts at about $40 a bottle and goes up fast). His St-Romain blanc is pale yellow with brilliant clarity and floral scents. It will fill your mouth with roundness, hints of apricot and grapefruit and age well for several years from the harvest.
You will spot Alain Gras’s wine in some of the best restaurants in France: like 3-Star Taillevent, Cotes St-Jacques and Lameloise to name three where I have seen it on the list. It’s hard to come by a better recommendation than that. Absolutely anyone in Burgundy would kill to be included on these lists of the greats and Alain is always there. Cynthia Hurley
The Details
Alain Gras St Romain Blanc 2003 6 bottles $189, 12 bottle case $349 ($29)