Domaine Romuald Petit

Village:
Saint-Verand
Appellation:
7ha Maconnais
5ha Beaujolais
Grower:
Romuald Petit

Romuald Petit farms 7 hectares in the Maconnais and 5 hectares in Beaujolais. His Burgundy parcels are primarily in Saint-Verand with a small parcel in neighboring Pruzilly. The Beaujolais parcels are primarily in Morgon with smaller holdings in Chiroubles and Saint-Amour. Romuald’s parcels in the Maconnais are typically Burgundian, in that they differ with regards to their soils, rootstocks and the age of the vines. There are young vines (aged 5-15 years) planted by Romuald, and others that are over a hundred years old, planted just after the Phylloxera crisis. Because each parcel produces grapes with very different qualities, Romuald vinifies each separately, only assembling the wines (or not) before bottling. His aim is to create a wine that is both balanced and expressive. Romuald has always farmed without chemical fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides. In 2019, he officially began his conversion toward organic certification. All wines are harvested by hand and fermented with indigenous yeast.

Read Romuald’s comments in the Burgundy Vintage Reports

Bourgogne Blanc

The Bourgogne Blanc is sourced mostly from two hectares in the “lieu dit” Champ Rond in the village of Chasselas, a village in the southern part of the Saint-Veran appellation. The soil is an unusual red limestone. It is an ideal soil for growing Chardonnay, rendering fresh and particularly aromatic wines that are both lively and fruity. The Bourgogne Blanc is vinified and matured for 6-8 months on its lees in stainless steel vats. No sulfur is used during the process, and only a minimal dose is added just before bottling.

Morgon "Vieilles Vignes"

The “Vieilles Vignes” cuvée is produced from the ‘lieu-dit’ Chateau Gaillard where the vines are between 60 and 100 years old. The soil is a light sandy granite known locally as “arene”.

Morgon "Roche Noire"

The Roche Noire vineyard takes its name from the black schist soil that is interlaced with decomposed granite. Romuald’s vines are more than 50 years old. Both the Chateau Gaillard and Roche Noire vineyards are pruned “a l’ancien” with the gobelet method (no trellising). Romuald vinifies in the with whole cluster fermentations and typically the wines macerate for 13 days. The Vieilles Vignes is matured in cement and the Roche Noire in both cement and foudres.

Chiroubles

With its 315 hectares, Chiroubles is among the smallest of the 10 Beaujolais Crus. The vineyards which are between 270 and 500 meters, have the highest average elevation in Beaujolais. They are also the steepest, with an average grade of 30º. Romuald’s 2 hectares are in the lieu dit “Les Cotes” and were planted by his great-grandfather just after WW2. The soil is a mix of granite and sand which combined with the vineyard’s exposition, make Romuald’s vineyard the earliest to ripen in the appellation. The vinification uses maceration of whole clusters and lasts 14 days. The wine is matured in cement vats for eight months before bottling.

Saint Amour “Les Billards”

Identical in size to Chiroubles with its 315 hectares, Saint Amour is among the smallest of the 10 Beaujolais Crus. It is the northernmost of the 10 Crus and forms a border with the southern extreme of the Maconnais. Romuald farms a one-hectare parcel in the lieu dit of “Les Billards” which is at the base of Mont de Besset in the northwest corner of the appellation near Julienas. The soil is a mix of granite and clay which imparts a concentration and structure to the wine. The vinification is with semi-carbonic with mostly whole clusters and a percentage of the grape bunches de-stemmed before entering the fermentation vat. The maceration last 21 days and the wine is matured for ten months in both cement and oak barrels of varying sizes and ages.

News

Each year, for 25 years, at the festival Grands Jours de Bourgogne, the "Group of Young Wine Professionals" (GJVP) hosts a competitive exposition of wine from young winemakers the Salon des Jeunes Talents. In a blind tasting a winner is chosen from each of the 5 growing regions in Burgundy.

In this years expo, held at the Château de Garnerot in Mercurey, Thursday March 24th , 3 winemakers from Wine Traditions’ portfolio participated in the competition.

The results are announced : It’s a full sweep! All three of them are the 2015 trophy winners for their region!!!

We congratulate Cyril Gautheron winner for the Chablisien, Felix Debavalaere, Domaine Rois Mages winner for the Côte Chalonnaise and Romuald Petit winner for the Mâconnais.


Romuald PetitCyril Gautheron

Region: Beaujolais

Our exploration of French vineyards has often been guided by the study of soils and it was while investigating the wines of Côtes du Forez and Côte Roannaise in the Auvergne that I realized the vineyards of the Cru Beaujolais covered an area that is an extension of the same Massif Central. Our first visit to this geological outgrowth focused on the northern most crus of Julienas and Saint Amour. It was apparent from the start, by simply taking in the idyllic landscape and observing the small gnarly trunks, densely planted and “back-breakingly” low to the ground, that this region could produce some special wines...

Beaujolais takes its name from the region’s early capital and strategically placed town of Beaujeu. The first official record of vineyards in Beaujolais dates from 957 when the Seigneur of Beaujeu purchased vineyards in Morgon. It is more than likely, however, that with the important Roman metropolis of Lyons so close by, the Romans had planted vineyards in Beaujolais long before. Until recently, the red wines of Beaujolais were divided into four classifications: Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages, Cru Beaujolais, and Beaujolais Nouveau, with Gamay being the only authorized grape. In 2011 a new AOC was created called Coteaux Bourguignons which includes vineyards in both Burgundy and Beaujolais and among other things, authorizes Pinot Noir to be grown in Beaujolais. There is also a small production of white wine which is classified as Beaujolais/Beaujolais Villages and made with Chardonnay or as Coteaux Bourguignons which permits a small percentage of other varieties to be blended with Chardonnay.

Beaujolais wines offer a unique combination of characteristics. Generally, the wines are very satisfying, enticingly aromatic and fruity with soft tannins and enough acidity to leave the palate refreshed. In contrast to their northern neighbor, Burgundy, Beaujolais wines are earthy rather than ephemeral. Like the Pinot Noir in Burgundy, the Gamay variety is intriguingly transparent as it expresses itself across the many Beaujolais terroirs. The key variables are much the same as those in Burgundy: soil composition, elevation, slope of the vineyard, and exposition. The style of winemaking reflects the vinification options of carbonic maceration, semi-carbonic and “classic”. Equally important is the quality of extraction as influenced by the length of maceration and the temperature of fermentation. And then there is the choice between selected and indigenous yeast and the quantity of SO2 added. The native of Beaujolais, Jules Chauvet, is credited with igniting the movement known now as “natural” wine. The ideas were practiced by a small group of his colleagues and have significantly influenced the younger generation of Beaujolais winemakers.

When we began importing Beaujolais in 2001, the marketplace was dominated by Georges DuBoeuf and other negociants and wines from independent producers were difficult to find. The last two decades has spawned a new generation of wine producers who sense the remarkable potential of their terroirs and are willing to do the hard work of farming the land, producing their wine and finding a clientele. In the U.S., the wines of Beaujolais have been too frequently associated with Beaujolais Nouveau. In contrast, our portfolio celebrates the variety of expression in Beaujolais and dispels the perception that all Beaujolais sing the same song. Finally, the wines of Beaujolais are remarkably versatile in terms of their ability to be paired with food; something long understood in Lyons where Beaujolais perfectly pairs with coq au vin, poached eggs and lardon, pâte and cornichon, grilled or cured sausages, steak and potatoes. Beaujolais and “frites” – now that’s some comfort.

 

Region: Bourgogne

Our exploration of French vineyards has often been guided by the study of soils and it was while investigating the wines of Côtes du Forez and Côte Roannaise in the Auvergne that I realized the vineyards of the Cru Beaujolais covered an area that is an extension of the same Massif Central. Our first visit to this geological outgrowth focused on the northern most crus of Julienas and Saint Amour. It was apparent from the start, by simply taking in the idyllic landscape and observing the small gnarly trunks, densely planted and “back-breakingly” low to the ground, that this region could produce some special wines...

Beaujolais takes its name from the region’s early capital and strategically placed town of Beaujeu. The

The Burgundy vineyards have been intimately worked and studied for many centuries which has resulted in a complex and highly detailed system of nomenclature, one that beginning in the 1930’s the INAO has tried to formalize into a logical network of “appellations controlees”. The system of appellations is uniform in its general outline for Burgundy’s different wine regions, but much less uniform in its application. For example, each of the Premier Cru vineyards in the Côte D’Or and Côte Chalonnaise is associated with its village of origin and corresponds specifically to one plot of land within that village, whereas in the Yonne or Chablis to be exact, the Premier Cru vineyards never make reference to their villages of origin and moreover, the 79 Premier Cru vineyards typically use only 17 names. So, putting differences aside and embracing contradiction, one can say with confidence that the overall appellation structure is organized from the general to the specific. At the most general level, vineyards from any of the Burgundy wine regions can produce white, red, rosé or sparkling wines with the Bourgogne appellation. At the first level of specificity (and beginning of disparity among the regions), there are 24 regional appellations, each of which is comprised of a group of villages which share a common appellation name. Two examples, which illustrate the possible variation in size, are Côtes de Nuits Villages and Macon-Villages. Côtes de Nuits Villages includes nine villages whereas Macon-Villages includes 83 villages. At the next level of specificity, there are 44 local appellations, each of which corresponds to a specific village such as Gevrey-Chambertin and Chassagne-Montrachet. Within the local appellation structure, but higher up the hierarchal scale, there are 750 Premier Cru appellations which mark specific vineyard boundaries within a particular village. Examples are Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “Petite Chapelle” and Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru“Les Chenevottes”. At the highest level of the paradigm, there are 33 Grand Cru appellations which similarly mark specific vineyard boundaries within a specific village (or spanning two!).

Examples of Grand Cru vineyards are Mazis-Chambertin and Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. One of the lovely idiosyncrasies is evident from these examples; namely, why the grand cru vineyard “climat” names Chambertin and Montrachet are attached to their respective communes at all appellation levels.

If one is interested and persistent enough to comprehend the lay of the land in terms of its geography, geology and nomenclature, the picture quickly becomes much more complex when the land is divided between the many thousands of Burgundian wine-growers. The average land holding in Burgundy is two hectares (five acres) and in some of the most illustrious vineyards such as Batard-Montrachet a mere twelve hectares can be divided among 55 growers.

A deep knowledge of the wines produced in Burgundy, it is easy to see, would be best left up to those who have lots of free time. People that are teachers or NBA basketball players might have enough vacation time to tackle such a project, but only the NBA player would have the money to taste the wines. Happily, even without four months of vacation or enormous resources, the wines of Burgundy are there to give us all the taste of one of the vine’s favorite places on earth.

Burgundy wine growers certainly have no special claim to the concept of terroir, but they have embraced the notion of terroir in a way that brings it to our attention and gives us much to think about. If our attention is turned to the infinite variations of our mother earth and its ability to give these variations expression through the grape vine and its transformation into wine, then what a lovely reminder that we are from the earth, nourished by the earth and will return to it.