2006 Macon Villages Cuvee Botrytis
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Tasting notes
According to Gautier Thevenet, the 2006 Viré-Clessé Cuvée Botrytis hails from a parcel of vines where the marl subsoils break through the layer of clay that generally covers them, making for a more humid microclimate. Since it's also a warm location, botrytis flourishes here, and the family began to vinify these grapes separately in the 1970s. Offering up lovely aromas of ripe apricots, vanilla pod, Meyer lemon, dried white flowers and barley sugar, it's incredibly concentrated, bright and intense, with an extraordinarily long and fragrant finish. There are fully 300 grams per liter of residual sugar here, but the wine isn't overwhelming at all. More than just a curio, this is one of the great dessert wines of France.
Critic scores
Average Score
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Pale orange. Very rich and lively – transparent. Not at all heavy but sweet and very pure. Lightly dried apple skin end. Glorious! Still something to chew on. (JR)
(a berry-by-berry selection from the bottom of the slope; this never goes through malo; 195 g/l r.s.; bottled in 375-ml. format): Bright medium gold. Classic, high-toned scents of dried apricot, honey, crumbly buttery pastry shell and toffee. Incredibly dense and thick but also surprisingly racy, with its utterly seamless flavors of dried fruits, spices, hazelnut and marzipan framed and carried by almost lemony acidity. Wonderfully penetrating, exhilaratingly high-toned wine with great texture, lift and length. This is really a remarkable thing to do with Chardonnay.
The 2006 Vire Clesse Cuvee Botrytise comes from a parcel of vines with particularly strong marne soils that tend to produce botrytised grapes, this cuvée is 100% botrytised fruit, unlike the Cuvée Levroutée. So this comes packing with 204gm/L residual sugar. Lucid golden in color with green tints, it has a beautiful bouquet that you would think is a fine Sauternes. This is very pure and possesses breathtaking focus. The palate is stunning: exquisite balance, perfectly judged acidity and compelling honeyed, sorbet-like fruit that is somewhere between Sauternes and Beerenauslese. Upon reflection it veers towards the latter in style due to the lightness of touch and the absence of new oak that reduces heaviness in the mouth. It is a Mâconnais that will knock your socks off, so wear two pairs.
About the producer
Domaine de la Bongran is no ordinary Mâconnais estate. Since Jean Thévenet took over the domaine in 1972, this Viré-Clessé producer has become a cult name – with Jean a pioneer of organics and minimal intervention, as well as the estate’s unique wine style.