Discovering the Mâconnais (4) Cave d’Azé
Website: www.caveaze.com
Cave D’Azé is another of the cooperative wineries in the Mâconnais. They have 60 partner growers farming 280 hectares of vines, and each year producer around 1.5 million bottles. But eight years ago they were just making 300 000 bottles. They have grown since they integrated into a larger commercial organization who deals with logistics and sales. This is the Compagnie de Burgondie, which is a commercial alliance of seven cooperatives who share logistical, marketing and commercial services. The partners are Caves Bailly Lapierre, Cave des Vignerons de Buxy (focusing on wines of the Côte Chalonnaise), the Alliance des Vignerons Bourgogne-Beaujolais (Cave de Viré, Cave d’Azé from Bourgogne and from Beaujolais Cave du Château de Chénas, Cave du Château des Loges, Vignerons des Pierres Dorées). They have a logistics centre on the A6 and there are daily shuttles from there to the different cooperatives.
They sell 70% in bottle and 30% en vrac to negociants, which is the opposite to what happened a decade ago.
We met with winemaker Lorraine Tisserand and winegrower Adrien Granjean. They took us to one of Adrien’s plots, which was lieu dit Cerisier. He has 9 hectares overall.
THE WINES
Cave d’Azé Bourgogne Aligoté 2022
Stony, bright and linear with good acidity and a direct, almost transparent fruitiness. There’s a nice mineral energy here with an interesting stony texture. 89/100
Cave d’Azé Mâcon-Villages Sans Soufre Ajouté 2022
Made with bioprotection and keeping oxygen away from wine movements. Slightly nutty edge to the nose with bright pear and lemon fruit. Has an interesting texture with nice depth. 88/100
Cave d’Azé Mâcon Peronne 2022
This is from silex (flinty) soils, in conversion to organics. Bright, fresh and mineral with good acidity and some lemony detail. Fresh and direct with nice energy, and vital lemony fruit on the finish. 89/100
Cave d’Azé Mâcon Azé Les Milles Pierres 2022
Nice weight with a mineral edge to the pear and citrus fruit, showing direct fruit and some nice texture. Has some finesse and purity, with good energy. 88/100
Cave d’Azé Mâcon Azé Cuvée Jules Richard 2022
Nice weight again, with sweet pear and green apple, as well as some citrus brightness. Supple and quite mineral with a nice acid line as well as supple fruit. Long lemony finish. 90/100
Cave d’Azé Mâcon Azé Reflets d’Ambre 2021
50 year old vines, harvested a few weeks later than the main harvest. Good concentration and depth here with hints of nuts and honey as well as some appealing pear and peach fruit. 90/100
Cave d’Azé Mâcon Azé Prestige 2021
10% barrel aged, older vines. Complex, nutty with nice concentration and some honey, pear and peach. Very stylish with some stony detail and good weight of fruit. Harmonious with lovely balance. 91/100
Cave d’Azé Bourgogne Blanc Chardonnay Fût de Chêne 2021
100% barrel aged, but not fermented in oak. There’s a hint of mint and some oaky woody detail here showing some spice and clove as well as citrus fruit detail. Fresh and with some interest. 87/100
Cave d’Azé Mâcon-Azé Rouge Les Milles Pierres 2022
Stainless steel, thermovinification at 80 C for an hour or two, then cooled to 20 C in 6 hours. Bright and lively with juicy cherries and plums, and some stony detail. Has a wet stone finish with some subtly grippy tannins. Fruity style. 87/100
Cave d’Azé Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2022
Juicy and bright with tart cherry and plum fruit and a wet stone finish. Fresh with some grip at the end. 86/10
Cave d’Azé Mâcon Azé Fût de Chêne 2022
Gamay in oak, with 15% new. This has a stony, woody edge to the sweet cherries and plums. Has some warmth and a bit of spice with a hint of cloves. Has some grip here and a touch of spice on the finish. 86/100
Cave d’Azé Bourgogne Pinot Noir Fût de Chêne 2022
There’s some nice bright red cherry and plum fruit here with a mineral, stony edge and a bit of grippy tannin. Fresh and direct with nice fruit character. Satisfying. 88/100
Cave d’Azé Bourgogne Pinot Noir Notes Rubis 2022
Made in a square tank with submerged cap, from lower yields, 15 months in oak. Concentrated and energetic with some grippy tannins and bold berry and cherry fruits with good intensity and some woody complexity. Ambitious and bold with nice depth of flavour. 89/100
Cave d’Azé Crémant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blancs NV
2020 but NV, 9 months on lees. Bright and linear with nice citrus fruit, showing bright lemony fruit and a twist of sherbet. Tastes quite dry with nice energy. 89/100
Cave d’Azé Crémant de Bourgogne Blanc de Noirs NV
Fruity with nice cherry and lemon notes with a crisp focused finish. Juicy and bright with good energy, with a twist of pithiness and orange peel on the finish. 88/100
Cave d’Azé Crémant de Bourgogne Rosé Extra Dry NV
Pale pink in colour, this is pure and fruity with crisp acidity and a nice juicy finish. It has a bit of sweetness. Appealing stuff. 88/100
Cave d’Azé Chardonnay Vendange de la Saint-Martin NV Vin de France
Harvested in November and aged in 400 litre barrels. This is a blend of 2017, 2019 and 2020. Sweet but balanced with melon, apricot and pear, with a fresh lemony edge. Textured with nice weight to the palate, with the sweetness balanced by the acidity. Very stylish. 91/100
Cave Coopérative d’Aze
En Taroux – 71961 Aze
Tel. +33 (0)3 85 33 30 92
