jamie goode's wine blog: Philippe Pacalet - wonderful natural Burgundy

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Philippe Pacalet - wonderful natural Burgundy

One of the winemakers present at the IPNC this year is Philippe Pacalet, from Beaune. He is an interesting guy whose Pommard 1er Cru 2006 was beautifully expressive and elegant, with amazing aromatic purity.

He's the nephew of Marcel Lapierre, and was mentored by Jules Chauvet, among others. So it will come as no surprise that Philippe uses no sulfur during his winemaking, save for a bit at bottling. He doesn't own vineyards himself, but rents plots with interesting terroir. He also had some interesting theories about why it is that grapevines are so susceptible to disease (they have been vegetatively propogated for so long it makes them weak) and what he would do about it (GM vines, but only with the motivation of doing away with any spraying). It's very interesting to meet a natural winemaker who isn't bound by dogma (although I wouldn't want to suggest that most are).
He's a producer whose wines I'll look out for in the future.

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5 Comments:

At 6:47 AM, Blogger Winston said...

where can I get bottles of the wine he featured at the IPNC? that bottle was phenomenal. one of my favorites.

 
At 3:38 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Winston, if you are in the US, then Joe Dressner is the guy who brings them in, and Louis Dressner selections should be able to tell you who stocks it in your area.

 
At 3:47 AM, Blogger Winston said...

interesting. should i email them to get more information?

 
At 2:16 PM, Anonymous fred r. cousins said...

Just found out that Pacalet's wines are now available in the UK - in fact they have been for some time - from Les Caves de Pyrene www.lescaves.co.uk

 
At 7:52 AM, Anonymous Robert Walters said...

Jamie, starting to wonder about the very loose use of the term "natural wine". I realise that it is often used to mean no or low sulphur during the elevage. But the term is completely misleaduing. First of all, plenty of sulphur is used in the vineyards so why is the wine more natural if none is used in the winery? Secondly Pacalet buys fruit so presumably the viticulture is not organic or biodynamic (i.e. chemical free) which is what is being suggested by the term "natural".

 

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