Domaine Piron

Winery

Managed by Dominique Piron, the 14th generation winemaker in the family, and his wife Kristine Mary. Domaine Piron is a wine company which manages and vinifies, through different wine estates, and 60 hectares of 50-years-old vines. Domaine Piron specializes in the Beaujolais appellation of Morgon and its climates and also produces the appellations of Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages, Régnié, Brouilly, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chénas, Beaujolais and Bourgogne Blanc. Domaine Piron is dedicated to cultivating their vines with a deep respect for nature and the expression of the soils.

“…[Piron] is among the region’s outstanding, top value-delivering addresses.” — Wine Advocate, Aug 2010

Visit the winery at www.domaines-piron.fr

Wines

Beaujolais Blanc 2010

In the middle of the granite zones of Beaujolais, the soils are composed of calcium and clay. A perfect home for Chardonnay, which is the sole variety of Beaujolais Blanc and is 1% of the total production of the Beaujolais region. This wine has a pale straw color, full mineral flavours and very strong
structure. Beaujolais Blanc ages well over a considerable time.

“From a chalk-clay sector around Corcelles, the Piron 2010 Beaujolais Blanc Domaine de la Chanaise evinces iris and narcissus; lemon and apples; chalk dust and sea spray; as well as a piquantly cyanic intimation of apple pip on the nose. The tart fruit; floral perfume; chalky, salty minerality; and prominent piquancy are all reprised on a silken-textured yet refreshing palate. This might become predominantly bitter in its finish within a couple of years, but should offer lots of pleasure in the interim. I was surprised to learn given the character of this vintage that Kristine blocked half of the eventual cuvee from going through malo; but obviously she knew what she was doing! (The 2009 shows well – in its quite different way described in issue 190 – when tasted alongside.)”
Wine Advocate # 196, August 2011

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Beaujolais Rose 2010

Easy on the senses, no oak to complicate things or tire you out. Easy to kick back and relax with, friendly enough to be the perfect match for the spicest food. A wine that loves informal gatherings, jeans, T-shirts, outdoors, barbecues.

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Beaujolais Villages 2009

The Beaujolais Village is an assemblage from many different vineyards all classified as Beaujolais-Villages. It has a lighter ruby color and fresh flavors of cassis and strawberries while maintaining a round structure and soft complexity.

Ripe red cherry fruit, laced with refreshing acidity, gives this wine a great lift and liveliness. Its fruit goes right through the palate, with soft tannins as a backdrop. Drink this year.
Wine Enthusiast, July 2011

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Beaujolais Chenas Quartz 2009


Granite soil with strata of quartz gives this wine its intense texture, very structured and tight. It’s at a young stage, the red currant and dark cherry fruits integrating with the firm character of the wine. Keep for two years.
91 points, Wine Enthusiast, July 2011

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Beaujolais Chenas Quartz 2010

“The 2010 Chenas Quartz Domaine Piron & Lameloise – bottled for one week when I tasted it – reflects the quartzite-rich soil in which it grows in mouthwatering salinity and an active sense of mineral impingement. Like the corresponding Morgon Cote de Py, 40% of this matured in demi-muid, and given the concentration of ripe but tart red raspberry and sour cherry that abounds all the way through to an exuberant finish, the raw material was clearly in little danger of sacrificing primary juiciness to wood. This should benefit from a year in bottle and drink deliciously for several thereafter. (The 2009 – recently showing as impressively today as it did when I reported on it for issue 190 – was also labeled as “Quartz,” although the Pirons anticipated at the time I tasted it that they would be compelled to indicate only the initial “Q,” a circumstance on which I duly but as it turns out misleadingly reported.)”
90 points, Wine Advocate #196, August 2011

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Morgon Domaine de la Chanaise 2009

The cru of Morgon covers 1100 hectares, on friable granite and schist soils, laced with iron, know as “rotten rock”. The Morgon’s characteristic color is deep garnet, with aromas of stone fruits, most notably cherries, its palate is structured with round tannins and light spice flavours. The appellation Morgon is divided into six climates. We produce two of the more well known.

The Morgon Domaine de la Chanaise is a blend of the Charmes and Grands Cras parcels.

“Piron’s 2009 Morgon Charmes is named for the elongated sector that runs more than half the way along the appellation’s western edge, bordering Regnie. From tank (in which it was exclusively raised) this smells scintillatingly of lilac along with blueberry and cassis, and empty glass alone is apt to justify the wine’s inevitably too-modest price! If anything even more silken and polished than the corresponding Douby cuvee, though less vividly mineral or palpably extract- and tannin-rich, this certainly lives up to its name, finishing with wafting floral as well as pure berry-fruited intensity, along with subtle, ingratiating salinity. It should remain lovely for at least 3-4 years – not that one should waste time in opening the first bottles.”
91-92 points, Wine Advocate #190, August 2010

“Piron’s 2009 Morgon Grands Cras – named for the relatively clay-rich southern tier of the appellation, below the Cote de Py; like his other Morgons of the vintage, only partly de-stemmed and given 14 days fermentation including pigeage – is scented and flavored with blackberry and red raspberry; shot through with alkaline and saline minerality, toasted almond, bitter chocolate, and ginger spice; and manages to both caress with its polished lushness and at the same time refresh and invigorate. This really has a wide tonal range and supportive density, and should be worth following for at least 3-4 years.”
90-91 points, Wine Advocate #190, August 2010

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Morgon Domaine de la Chanaise 2010

“Comprising an assemblage over numerous parcels (including that which the previous vintage informed a Douby bottling) and aged around 30% in older barriques and demi-muids, Pirons’ 2010 Morgon Domaine de la Chanaise delivers the carnal side of the appellation – here, a savor of meaty pan drippings – that was, for now at least, missing from the corresponding Grands Cras bottling. Not that this skimps on fruit – infectiously juicy, just-ripe black raspberry and dark cherry – nor on invigoration: cherry pit, salt, and berry seeds in the finish serve for an ample measure. It ought to reward a bit of patience and drink well for at least 3-4 years.”
89-90 points, Wine Advocate # 196, August 2011

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Morgon Cotes de Py 2009

The Morgon Cotes de Py 2009 was blended from 2/3 Cuvées les Pierres and 1/3 Javernières.

2009 Dominique Piron Morgon Cuvee les Pierres
“From a 7 year old foudre crafted, Piron reports, “by a local character, who is unfortunately getting ready to retire,” the 2009 Morgon Cote de Py Cuvee les Pierres – originating in a pebbly yet clay-rich section just uphill from Javernieres – displays both smoked meat and machine oil overlays to its rich black raspberry. A glorious and haunting floral dimension of buddleia gains prominence over time and wells-up from the empty glass. A snappy suggestion of candied tangerine rind as well as invigoratingly tart notes of berry skin and stony impingements all augment an otherwise soothing and luxuriantly mouth-coating fruit matrix, leading to a finish of strikingly vibratory intensity. This should be worth following steadily for 6-8 years.”
92-93 points, Wine Advocate, August 2010

2009 Dominique Piron Morgon Cote de Py Javernieres
“Assembled in tank (but 50% aged in used barrique), the Piron 2009 Morgon Cote de Py Javernieres smells remarkably like a machine shop with smoky-sweet oil and metal shavings complementing its contingent of blueberry and black raspberry preserves. Heady, haunting evocations of peony evolve as the wine opens, and later linger in the open glass. Strikingly saliva-inducing and almost vibratory, with (despite its confitured richness) a subtly tart berry edge and a lip-smacking, invigorating salinity, the wine’s almost confectionary undertones of dark chocolate and nutmeg are beautifully foiled by its lingering sense of graphite and smoky mineral residue. What a thrill this will be to follow for a half dozen or so years – beginning as soon as possible! (Piron elected to blend the tiny amount of 2008 Javernieres on which I reported pre-bottling in issue 184 into his Cote de Py, with a result that – like other of his 2008s covered at that time – lived up to the optimistic end of my projected ratings.)”
92-93 points, Wine Advocate, August 2010

A very fine Beaujolais, from this premier hillside in Morgon that brings together red cherry and plum fruits on one side and firm tannins on the other. Big and concentrated, for aging over three years and more.
92 points, Wine Enthusiast, July 2011

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Morgon Cotes de Py 2010

“Incorporating both the fruit of Javernieres and that which informed last year’s Cuvees les Pierres, the Piron 2010 Morgon Cote de Py – 40% of which sojourned in demi-muids from a local tonnelier – delivers juicy just-ripe dark berries suffused with crushed stone and saliva-inducing salinity. Impressively concentrated and persistent, it is does seem rather backward in its evolution (an impression possibly accentuated by its having been bottled just days before my arrival) and makes no attempt to charm. Give this serious Morgon a year in bottle and then follow it for several more.”
Wine Advocate, August 2010

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