Domaine de Suremain Monthelie sur La Velle 1er cru 2005
The beautiful Burgundy vineyards just before harvest
Have you put some 2005 red Burgundies in your cellar yet? It is still not too late.
Burgundy has never reached such heights, and the 2005s represent the most exquisite expression of Pinot Noir in the last couple of decades.
“With such a combination of ripeness, flavour, acid, and tannin structure, this is a year for the cellar.” -Decanter, 2007
“’05 Cote de Beaune wines are indeed wonderful, pure and extraordinary…” -Allen Meadows, Burghound
“At the risk of throwing another log on an already raging fire, I’d have to say that 2005 is potentially the greatest red Burgundy vintage I’ve yet tasted from the barrel.” -Steve Tanzer, International Wine Cellar
We already know the depth of Eric de Suremain’s talent. I’m frequently poking about the cellar on an evening looking for a bottle of his Rully Preaux, but you’d have to say Eric’s Monthelie, sur La Velle, is his signature wine.
If you want to catch Eric de Suremain, you go find him in the vineyards. He’s not a jacket and tie type of guy who hangs out at tastings and worries about wine rankings (although he managed to get a special mention in Andrew Jefford’s (The New France) Best Grower section for Burgundy wines. No, Eric is all about getting down and dirty with his terroir. This shows in his wines. This Burgundy is one of our most popular. It is sumptuous Pinot Noir to its core. It is affordable and this Monthelie sur La Velle is a standout.
Monthelie is a little Arcadia. It straddles the borders of Volnay and Meursault on hillside vineyards that get excellent exposure. There are only 200 Montheliens, as the town’s residents are called, and there isn’t a village center- just growers’ houses winding up a hillside to the requisite church at the top of the village, all surrounded by vines.
Nothing much has changed physically since the sixteenth century – that is to say – nothing much EXCEPT the wine and winemaking.
For a long time, the wines of Monthelie were part of neighbor Volnay. In fact, before Monthelie got its own appellation back in 1937, the wines were labeled as Volnay or Pommard. The wines tended to be a little more rustic and coarse, but this is no longer the case – particularly with a grower like Eric de Suremain.
Eric’s wines are a very successful merger between power and charm and because they are labeled Monthelie, they are moderately priced. Eric’s Monthelie comes from a vineyard named sur La Velle. It is considered the best vineyard in Monthelie and no surprise because the grapes rub shoulders with those from Volnay.
Eric de Suremain took his vineyards biodynamic in 1996. He was way ahead of his time, and still is. Eric de Suremain does not embrace every little technological miracle that comes along. He still believes in getting up close and personal with his grapes by practicing pigeage – good old-fashioned foot stomping. His yields are very low. His vines are old. He is restrained when it comes to new wood. Eric’s wines remain in barrel for as long as two years. Eric’s wines are long-lived and will drink well up to ten years or more.
His philosophy of winemaking sounds simple, but is really profound: “there are no petites annees, it is just the balance which counts.” This means that he is a flexible winemaker who adjusts for the variables in every vintage. He doesn’t try to match the wine to his winemaking, he matches his winemaking to the wine, and it is that skillful balancing act that makes his wine seem like a seamless wave of Pinot flavor. Cynthia Hurley