Domaine J Confuron-Cotetidot
The wines of this estate represent something of an anomaly these days against the backdrop of the increasing trend for earlier picks and cool fermentations (to preserve aromatic freshness and make wines more approachable in their youth) – Yves Confuron firmly sticks to a belief in traditional Burgundian production methods and always has done.
Famous for picking much later than his neighbours, these wines are big and ripe, sturdy and concentrated with modest acidity, and are very much designed for the long haul – very generously rewarding careful cellaring, developing remarkable complexity and weight. The estate also does not own a de-stemmer, meaning that all the stems from the bunches remain in the ferment – another reason for the late pick as Yves waits until the stems are fully lignified so they can add spicy notes and further tannic structure to the wine – if picked too early, green stems cause bitterness and green flavours, another reason Yves bides his time.
Further to this, whereas many modern producers will let their wines rest in barrel for 10-11 months before transferring to tank (in time to use those barrels again for the new vintage), Yves insists on allowing two full years in barrel as a minimum before bottling or moving the wine. The two estates he oversees (here and Domaine de Courcel) are blessed with very cool cellars which allow a very slow development during this élevage, offering round tannins and remarkable flavour integration