Franck Givaudin Irancy 2021

Alcohol: 13%

Grape(s): Pinot Noir

Localization: Burgundy, France

Tasting Notes: Old World pinot, with typical strong red cherry and currant notes, shaded with tart raspberry and a bit of minerality. Soft and silky wine. Franck Givaudin is the 5th generation of his family to run this vineyard. Irancy is a small sheltered valley up near Chablis in northern Burgundy. All the grapes from Franck Givaudin's estate are organically grown, hand-harvested, and fermented with natural yeast.

The Domain: Franck was working in Beaune for a few years, before returning to the 12-hectare family domaine in Irancy. His father’s family is from Saint Brice and his mother’s from Irancy – a little under 10 hectares are in Irancy, the rest in St.Brice. The domaine exports a little wine to the US, but like most others in the village, the bulk of the production finds a home in the Paris region.

The domaine’s parcel of Palotte was recovered by Franck’s grandfather in 1960-62 and has old vines, planted mainly in the 1920s. Franck says that he likes to respect the old cesar here, but his other parcels have none. The ambition is to have the 'highest value' approach to the vineyard environment. Since 2002 there have been no herbicides or insecticides etcetera in the domaine’s vines.

Grapes are hand-harvested and 100% destemmed. Their cuvaison lasts about 18 days – depending on the grapes – and sees both a little remontage and pigeage. There is a mix of traditional open-top fermenters and temperature-controlled stainless-steel with built-in (once per day) pigeage. Franck says that he’s really looking for the fruitiness of pinot noir in his wines and gives the fermented grapes a 2-2.5 hour gentle pneumatic press. “I also like wines with a little structure, but with good presentation – wines that need 3-4 years to mature,” says Franck. There are a few barrels for ‘interesting’ cuvées, Franck noting that he prefers to work with 2-3 year-old barrels.