Domaine Verret

At A Glance

Detail: What it covers
Home village: Saint-Bris le Vineux
Red appellation: Irancy
White wine: Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy
Sparkling wine: Crémant de Bourgogne
Red grape: Pinot Noir
Featured red wine: Irancy Les Mazelots

The Producer

The Verret family has been winegrowers in Saint-Bris since 1750. Domaine Verret now covers 66 hectares, with a range that joins Irancy reds, Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy and Crémant de Bourgogne. Fruit from the vineyard sites, attention paid to the vines and family know how accumulated across generations shape the domaine's winemaking philosophy.

Place

Irancy is a Burgundy appellation with 315 hectares of vineyards, planted predominantly to Pinot Noir, with up to 10% César permitted. Pinot Noir now ripens regularly there, reducing the old need for César to add depth to wines that might otherwise be lean. From Saint-Bris le Vineux, the range extends across Irancy, Chablis and Crémant de Bourgogne.

Story

In Irancy, Bruno Verret farms close to 13 hectares, making him one of the major landholders of the appellation. He makes six different Irancy cuvées, including blends and single vineyard cuvées. Tank aged and barrel aged examples sit alongside the single vineyard bottlings, so the red selection varies by both source and ageing vessel.

Vineyards And Cellar

The red wines include tank aged and barrel aged examples. Tank ageing keeps the wine away from oak, while barrel ageing adds slow oxygen exchange and can contribute spice and a rounder texture. Single vineyard cuvées keep fruit from one vineyard selection apart from blends, so the bottle names a narrower source.

Wines

The Irancy range includes six cuvées, with blends, single vineyard selections, tank aged wines and barrel aged wines. Irancy Les Mazelots is one of these red bottlings. Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy is the still white wine, while Bruno Verret Crémant de Bourgogne is sparkling and uses chardonnay, pinot noir, gamay, aligoté and sacy. The lineup covers red, white and sparkling wine across three Burgundy appellations.

In The Glass

Les Mazelots has a sustained, brilliant ruby colour. Its nose is fine and complex, with small red fruits and pepper, while the palate is rich and round, held in balance by freshness and the complexity of the terroir. Les Mazelots 2017 brings mineral nuances alongside the fruit.

Beauroy opens in youth with grapefruit, honeysuckle and iodine. With age, white fleshed fruit becomes compoted and candied, with tobacco spice over a mineral base. Its round palate moves toward poached peaches, butter and spices, while notable acidity gives it ageing potential.

Crémant brings licorice, exotic melon, citrus and subtle iodine minerality. Fine bubbles carry vibrant Chardonnay citrus and, with time, the roundness of Pinot Noir. Its balance comes through the mousse, fruit and mineral finish.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Irancy Les Mazelots 2017. It is a red wine from Irancy with a named vintage, and it sits inside a selection that also includes blends, barrel aged wines and single vineyard cuvées. The bottle puts one vintage beside the appellation name, while the other Irancy wines show how blend, ageing vessel and vineyard selection change the lineup.

Anecdote

In 1995, Bruno Verret returned to the family domaine in Saint-Bris le Vineux after work experience in Bordeaux, Cognac, Savoie, Chablis and Australia. When he started, he described himself as the first generation of his family to make wine. The Verret family had grown grapes across generations, but Bruno began making and bottling the wine as well. His return brought estate winemaking and bottling into a family operation devoted to winegrowing.

Final Word

Domaine Verret brings together family winegrowing in Saint-Bris, Irancy reds, Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy and Crémant de Bourgogne made from chardonnay, pinot noir, gamay, aligoté and sacy.

At A Glance

The Producer

Place

Story

Vineyards And Cellar

Wines

In The Glass

A Bottle To Understand It

Anecdote

Final Word

Sources

Where to go next