Julien Altaber "Sextant La Fleur Au Verre" Bourgogne Rouge 2021

Alcohol: 12%

Grape(s): Pinot Noir

Localization: Burgundy, France

Tasting Notes: Confit dark red fruits and a kiss of funk! A wild roller-coaster of sweet and sour with wet forest floor. Recommend a quick decant.

Notes: Hand-picked. Direct press, fermentation in wooden truncated vats. Aged in barrels for 9 months.

The Domain: Julien Altaber was not born Burgundian nor did he inherit vines, as most of Burgundy’s successful vignerons have. Raised in Auvergne, he hoped to continue the family tradition of dairy farming. But after insistence from his mother, he enrolled in trade school to study viticulture, setting his life on an unexpected path. He made the acquaintance of Dominique Derain in Saint Aubin, a pioneer of organic viticulture and natural winemaking in Burgundy. Dominique had always been a black sheep in the conservative world of the Cote D’Or and he found something familiar in Julien’s idealism. Julien began to work as Dominique’s cellar assistant, helping tend the vines while making a few barrels of wine in the basement. In 2011, Dominique helped Julien find an exceptional old-vines parcel of uncloned Aligoté vines, close to the village of Puligny, one of the great terroirs of the Cotes de Beaune. The following year, Julien arranged a fermage, a long-term lease on a parcel of pinot noir high up in the hills of the relatively obscure Maranges AOC, from which he vinifies approximately two barrels per year. In the meanwhile, Julien has established hands-on relationships with a small circle of growers in and around Saint Aubin and in the Cote Chalonaise, from whom he buys fruit for negoce cuvees.

There’s an incredible energy and liveliness that results from Julien’s gentle, hands-off cellar work. He believes that Burgundies are at their best without chaptalization, even if nature gives him a mere 11% alcohol, as is often the case in Maranages. Fermentation is always spontaneous and sulfur is usually avoided entirely. Finally, the wines are left unfiltered to showcase the aromatic complexity of Julien’s unique terroirs.