(Assemblage Millésimes 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 et 2018) 

A benchmark for this wonderful estate, this is one of my favourite wines of all, every year, if you have the patience and a good cellar, you can keep them almost forever!
Le Clos de Monsieur Noly is a vineyard of approximately 1.5 hectares located on a south-east facing hillside. The grapes are harvested manually and pressed slowly in whole bunches. The juice then undergoes a very long aging on fine lees for more than 10 years in oak barrels that have contained between 3 and 5 different wines, before being transferred to vats. It is a blend of grapes harvested in 2011, completed with barrels from 2012, 2013, 2016 and another from 2018. A vinous kaleidoscope! 

Baptiste and Philippe Valette continues on in their father Gerard’s footsteps by producing incredible wines, packed with personality. They are the reference point for artisan wines from the Mâconnais. Their work is exacting; once the fruit is ready the harvest is manual in late September and once in the winery the entire harvest is pressed slowly with a pneumatic press. Vinification is natural: without sulphur, without yeasts, chaptalisation or acidification.

I often find myself in the cellars and homes of the winemakers that we work with and those that we would like to work with and it is interesting to see the bottles that have been kept by them that sit empty in their homes and cellars. I think it would be fair to say that those of Valette have been the most prominent and when remarked upon, his work is respected and adored. 

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