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Fontaine Saint Martin Monopole
Area : 3,25 ha
Age of the vines : 20 years old
Average annual production : 10000 bottles
Grape variety : Chardonnay
Localisation:
It took more than 40 years for Jean Gros, and then Michel to put back together the unique parcel of Fontaine Saint Martin in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, around the village of Arcenant.
This hillside slope of 7 hectares, facing east-south-east like the Côte de Nuits, rises in tiers at an elevation between 350 and 390 m. The vineyard overlooks the small valley and the Cistercian abbey of Lieu-Dieu des Champs. This abbey for nuns, founded about 1127, owned vines on this hillside. After the total destruction of the vineyard by phylloxera at the end of the XIXth century, the parcel of vines was largely overgrown by the forest.
Jean, then Michel, undertook clearing and reclaiming the parcel from 1976. Michel planted 4 hectares in Pinot Noir between 1981 and 1986, then the remaining 3 hectares in Chardonnay from 1987. These plantings were completed with the last parcel of 1 hectare, acquired in 2007 before replanting in 2009.
The soil is made up of mixed limestone and marls from the Upper Oxfordian (Jurassic) Period. This geological stage is to be found again on the Hill of Corton situated 5 km to the south. This soil structure is commonly called “Marls of Pernand”, from the name of the village of Pernand Vergelesses, located at the foot of the Hill of Corton.
This vineyard which is planted next to the Pinot Noir parcel is trained exactly the same way. The soil, which is mainly composed of marl in this area, is perfectly suitable for Chardonnay. The pruning used here is Guyot simple. It is located at an altitude reaching 360m to 380m, on so-called "Pernand marls". This geological stratum, that is also present in Pernand-Vergelesses and the hill of Corton, explains the similarity with wines from these vineyard areas, the altitude bringing a little more freshness.
Hautes-Côtes de Nuits
Area : 8 ha
Average Age of the Vines : 35 years old
Average Annual Production : 20 000 bottles
Grape Variety : Pinot Noir
Localisation :
The Hautes-Côtes vineyard was destroyed by Phylloxera between 1885 and 1900, as the rest of the French vineyard. Contrary to the Côtes de Nuits vineyard which has been replanted very quickly, we had to wait for the beginning of the seventies to see the revival of this appellation, of which my father, Jean GROS, was one of the first initiators.
Our vineyard is located at Arcenant, a small village in the middle of the Meuzin valley, 7 km west of Nuits-Saint-Georges. It is situated on a south-east exposed slope at an altitude reaching 360m to 420m (it is almost 100m higher than the Côte vineyard). This difference in altitude imposes a later harvest than on the Côte (almost 8 days later).
The rows are planted at a 2,60m distance, and the trellising is 1,80m high. This kind of training allows a planting that follows the contour lines, thus creating a small terrace at every row. The space between rows is turfed. The pruning system is the bilateral cordon pruning.
The soil and subsoil have 3 geological strata which are exactly the same as those we can find 100m lower in altitude in the Côte de Beaune in the vicinity of Aloxe-Corton.
This explains the strength and the masculine character characterizing these wines, as well as their excellent ageing qualities.
Hautes-Côtes de Nuits
Au Vallon
Area : 3 ha
Age of the vines : 35 years old
Average annual production : 7 000 bottles
Grape Variety : Pinot Noir
Localisation :
Michel continues with his special vine parcel selection in the Hautes-Côtes. After the launch in 2014 of his single-owner Fontaine Saint Martin monopole, with the 2016 vintage it is the turn of the vines situated “Au Vallon”.
This parcel of 3 hectares is to be found in the commune area of Marey les Fussey village, on a hillside slope facing due south, on the edge of a forest and at an elevation from 425 to 440 m. The upper parcel is on Oxfordian marls, the middle and lower parts on clayey limestones from the same period.
Michel began in 1978 to clear and replant in Pinot Noir this named lieu-dit area, abandoned since the phylloxera crisis. This replanting was finished in 2013, after long negotiations before acquiring the last parcel, belonging to the church in the village. The average age of replanted vines is today at thirty years or so. The different Hautes-Côtes parcels have always been vinified and aged separately, with blending only taking place two months before bottling. Michel therefore knows very well the particularities of each of them.
The “Vallon” has always been characterised by wines with silkier tannins and less noticeable acidity than the other cuvées. It is therefore the one that is easiest to taste when young. This sun-based solaire typicality is no doubt due to the maximum sunlight from which the south-facing slopes benefit, combined with the shelter from northerly and easterly winds afforded by the surrounding hillside and forest.
Fontaine Saint Martin Monopole
Area : 4 ha
Average Age of the Vines : 35 years old
Average Annual Production : 14 000 bottles
Grape Variety : Pinot Noir
Localisation :
It took more than 40 years for Jean Gros, and then Michel to put back together the unique parcel of Fontaine Saint Martin in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, around the village of Arcenant.
This hillside slope of 7 hectares, facing east-south-east like the Côte de Nuits, rises in tiers at an elevation between 350 and 390m. The vineyard overlooks the small valley and the Cistercian abbey of Lieu-Dieu des Champs. This abbey for nuns, founded about 1127, owned vines on this hillside.
After the total destruction of the vineyard by phylloxera at the end of the XIXth century, the parcel of vines was largely overgrown by the forest.
Jean, then Michel, undertook clearing and reclaiming the parcel from 1976. Michel planted 4 hectares in Pinot Noir between 1981 and 1986, then the remaining 3 hectares in Chardonnay from 1987. These plantings were completed with the last parcel of 1 ha, acquired in 2007 before replanting in 2009.
The soil is made up of mixed limestone and marls from the Upper Oxfordian (Jurassic) Period. This geological stage is to be found again on the Hill of Corton situated 5 km to the south. This soil structure is commonly called “Marls of Pernand”, from the name of the village of Pernand Vergelesses, located at the foot of the Hill of Corton.
Michel has always vinified and aged these different parcels of Hautes-Côtes separately, with the final blending only taking place shortly before bottling. In this way, he has been able to measure over almost 30 vintages the interest and originality of this wine from the Fontaine Saint Martin.
This is the reason, added to the successful completion of the work of reunifying and replanting the parcel, that convinced him to highlight the individuality of this cuvée Monopole, starting from the 2014 vintage.
