The wines
of Franck Peillot, Bugey
Bugey is a little known French wine region (a VDQS)
that’s nestled in a low series of hills at the tip of the Jura.
Usually, it is linked to the Savoie region because of its geographical
proximity. Franck Peillot (above) is one of the quality leaders
of the region, and specializes in making wines from the Altesse
variety (also known as Roussette, a relative of Tokaji’s Furmint,
apparently).
Half of his production is the traditional sparkling
wine of the region, but his main focus has been on still wines.
As well as white wines (from Altesse and Chardonnay),
he makes reds from Pinot Noir and Mondeuse. He bought a vineyard with
Gamay and Pinot Noir in it from his uncle in the mid-1980s, but it was
only the Pinot he was really interested in. For the first few years he
used it to make sparkling wine from, but then decided to make red
wine. It’s the Pinot Droit clone, which grows straight up, and which
the Champenois were using because it is easy to grow and has high
yields. ‘The first year we used it the yields were high and the wine
was bad’, Franck reports. ‘People said we’d never be able to
make a red Burgundy style from Droit, but we do make a nice fruity
wine’. He does an 8 day maceration in open tanks, and doesn’t use
SO2 until the end of malolactic. He makes a starter yeast culture to
begin fermentation and then adds whole bunches.
In 2007 Franck decided to have no malolactics in either
his Chardonnay or Altesse. ‘It’s harder for us to have malolactic
than not to’, he explains. ‘It’s a problem trying to get malo
going: sometimes we have to warm up a small quantity of wine and use
it as a starter’.
Franck Peillot Chardonnay 2007 Bugey, France
This is crisp, fresh and has good acidity. It’s fruity and
bright with some minerality and a fresh finish. 87/100
Franck Peillot Altesse 2007 Bugey, France
Lovely expressive nose with herby, minerally depth. Lots going on
here. It’s lively, complex, fruity and bright with good definition
and citrussy fruitiness. Franck explains that it’s actually an
unusually fruity year for this wine. 89/100
Franck Peillot Altesse 2006 Bugey, France
Lovely elegant, smooth nutty, herby nose with some minerally
notes. The palate is nutty and waxy and broad. Very expressive with a
mineral finish. Lovely stuff. 90/100
Franck
Peillot Montagnieu NV Bugey, France
This is 50% of Franck’s production. It is a sparkling wine that
has been ‘The Champagne of the Lyonnais’ for 400 years – a
natural sparkling wine that pre-dates Champagne. Franck’s version is
20–30% Altesse with the balance Chardonnay. He wanted to do a 100%
sparkling Altesse, but it isn’t as nice as the blend. This is tight
with fresh, bracing fruit and a bit of herbiness. 86/100
Franck Peillot Réserve de Jean NV Bugey, France
Another sparkling wine, this is quite warm and complex with some
toastiness and depth. Attractive and fruity. 87/100
Franck Peillot Pinot Noir 2007 Bugey, France
Smooth, elegant and light with sweet cherry fruit nose. Expressive
and pure. The palate has light cherry fruit with lovely freshness and
purity. 89/100
Franck Peillot Mondeuse 2006 Bugey, France
Bright cherry fruit nose is smooth, elegant and fruity. The palate
is open with some herbiness and lovely dense fruit, with some spicy
tannins. Quite structured, with lovely dense, vivid, expressive fruit.
Fantastic. 91/100
Wines tasted 05/08
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