JULIEN ALTABER / DOMAINE DERAIN
Sometimes you want classique. Around the shop lots of us have fun pronouncing words in ways that are probably obnoxious to everyone else, but anyway, sometimes you want classique. But not too classique—that wouldn’t really be our vibe. When you’re feeling that way, sometimes you want to drink wine: enter the subtly classique not so classique wines from Julien Altaber.
Julien started making wine over a decade ago, working in the cellar of the storied Domaine Derain in Saint Aubin in Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune. Derain has been the central figure in the biodynamic movement in Southern Burgundy--leading classes, sharing treatments, encouraging the youth--and therefore has lots of friends in the region. These relationships provided Julien the opportunity to work with other farmers, making his own wine in Dominique's winery.
Making wine as a negociant in Burgundy has just as much of a history as domaine production due to the extreme cost of land, a history that Julien is proud to continue. While making wine in this manner is longstanding, Julien's extreme attention to sourcing is not. Rather than sourcing cheap fruit to subsidize domaine work as many producers do (not passing judgement here, those wines can be fantastic too), he works with the same plots and the same growers year after year, really investing in the vines and giving his cuvées a sense of place and continuity that’s rare for purchased grapes.
Over the last couple years, Dominique, who has been making wine (which is not easy) since the 80s and is due some travel and retirement, has been transitioning Domaine Derain over to the stewardship of Julien and his partner Carole, with the current vintage of those wines being entirely their work. Julien’s respect and appreciation for the space occupied by the Derain wines and the work of Dominique means he won’t be changing too much about the wines, but they are already beginning to subtly shift more toward his own style, which tends to be a bit softer and more aromatic. Having these estate vines to work with also gives the negociant wines a bit more room for experimentation and releases much of the commercial pressure on them.
The cuvées run the gamut from incredibly composed and subtle takes on traditional Burgundian wines from some of the region’s most celebrated terroirs to experimental long-macerated white wines and pet-nats with apricots added. The thoughtful nature of Julien’s wines is truly rewarding. I remember feeling accomplished after tasting his fleur au verre pinot noir for the first time, I was surprised by how much I liked a bottling so refined and, again, classique. For those like me, these wines are a great place to explore a region often felt to be inaccessible, and for those with more experience drinking wines from fancy appellations, they’re an opportunity to discover those same terroirs made as pure fermented juice. `
~ Jackson
Quite a few bottles just arrived, but each in limited quantities. Here’s what’s available:
2020 Sextant Vin de France L'Ecume $28
Aligoté without maceration, as pet-nat. A zippy little sparkler for apero.
2020 Sextant Vin de France Foufounette $28
Sparkling Aligoté macerated with apricots.
2020 Sextant Vin de France Skin Bulles $28
Macerated Aligoté, as pet-nat!
2020 Sextant Vin de France Mammamia Pinot Gris $36
Macerated Pinot Gris from a rare high-altitude parcel in the lower Beaujolais. Vines formerly worked by the iconic Bruno Debize.
2020 Sextant Vin de France Po a Po Aligoté $36
Macerated Aligoté from a rare planting close to Pommard.
2019 Sextant Bourgogne-Aligoté $28
A rare parcel of 100 year old Aligoté Doré, planted in Puligny-Montrachet. The first vines he ever owned for himself, this is a very sentimental one for Julien.
2019 Sextant Bourgogne Saint-Aubin Blanc $72
A "classical" expression of white Burgundy (minus the junk). Drink this instead of that disappointing premox Puligny you've been sitting on...
2020 Sextant Vin de France, "M" $23
A glugger. Fruit from Bruno Debize's old vines close to Villefranche-sur-Saône.
2020 Sextant Coteaux Bourguignons, Pinot Noir/Gamay $27
Interregional Pinot/Gamay blend from vines at Saint Aubin and Bojo.
2019 Sextant Bourgogne Rouge Pinot Noir $36
A chiseled and pleasantly aromatic Pinot Noir from Damien Gressard's vines, just down the road from Vignes du Maynes.
2019 Sextant Maranges 1er Cur Clos Roussots $52
Julien has been working with these grapes since the beginning--the most ostentatiously natty of the lineup, with dense fruit and ripping aromatics.
2019 Vin de France Allez Goutons Aligoté $30
An iconic, first-wave natty Burgundy, made for the first time this year by Jules. Nice wine to pop with a couple dozen oysters.
2018 Saint Aubin Chardonnay $57
A sign of the changes Julien is bringing to the Domaine: open, aromatic and wild.
2018 Saint Aubin Chardonnay En Remilly $70
A Chardonnay built for the ancien regime: honeyed, ornate and not going anywhere soon.
2019 Bourgogne Rouge Les Riaux Pinot Noir $39
Fruit-forward Pinot Noir from a small parcel that Julien shares with Renaud Boyer, close to Beaune. If you know, you know.
2019 Saint Aubin, Le Ban Pinot Noir $48
In the milieu of Julien's more dressed-up Burgundies, Le Ban is usually the first of the Saint Aubin cuvées to come around. Old pinot noir vines, aged for a year in cask and vinified without any additives, Le Ban was among the first natural Burgundies to appear in the Paris bistros of the 1990s at places like Le Baratin and Verre Volé. The dream lives on.
2019 Derain, Saint Aubin, Lest Petits Noizots $87
Soaring aromatics and a dense yet supine body. Hard to imagine a better wine to pop with that fancy holiday dinner you're planning.
If you would like to purchase, or have any questions, please reply to this email, or call us at 773-360-8365. You can also continue ordering curated mix-packs on the Online Store. Or just swing on by the shop!