Mysteries of the land - Epicure - Entertainment - theage.com.au

Article discusses terroir from an Australian's standpoint and features Vega Sicilia (Spain) and William Fevre (Chablis).

Mysteries of the land - Epicure - Entertainment - theage.com.au: "Take Chablis. How does the taste of the soil, and not just the soil itself but a solidified mass of 160-million-year-old oyster fossils that holds the soil together, come to express itself so clearly in a glass of chardonnay?"

Frederic Gueguen / Domaine des Chenevieres releases l'Homme Mort

In 2003, Frederic Gueguen, son-in-law of Jean-Marc Brocard, purchased Domaine des Chenevieres from the retiring Bernard Tremblay and began production out of Brocard's cellars. The vines are REALLY old, with a lot of them going back to the 1920's. Included were fairly small parcels in both la Fourchuame and l'Hommer Mort. Fourchaume is considered an appellation de commericalisation and wines from the climats l'Homme Mort, Fourchaume, Vaulorents, Vaupulents and Cote de Fontenay can all be called Fourchaume or bottled separately under their own name. The team at Brocard was wavering for a while on how they were going to handle it - whether they'd blend the l'Homme Mort and Fourchuame together and just bottle it as Fourchaume or two different wines - l'Homme Mort and Fourchaume.

Well, they just released Frederic Gueguen/Domaine des Chenvieres 2005 Chablis 1er Cru l'Homme Mort, so I guess the question has been settled. This is pretty much what I expected given the fact that they bottle along the lines of 15 different Chablis, A.C. bottlings as well at Brocard. This makes Domaine des Chenevieres one of only 4 producers to make l'Homme Mort: Chateu de Maligny (who owns by far the most), la Chablisienne and A & F Boudin are th others.

(Of course this probably won't stop merchants from erroneously selling Boudin's as the only l'Homme Mort made, something they have been doing for years despite the fact that it is completely fictitious. Not to mention that Boudin's comes from a parcel that is south-facing and in a warm valley, a fact that makes the wine's terroir completely different from the remaining 90% of the vineyard and hence, atypical for the vineyard.)

2006 Vintage Update from Maison Lamblin et fils

Maison Lamblin et flis reports:

"If the 2006 vintage was slightly late in bud burst, this has been partially compensated for by a very rapid flowering, aided by the sudden arrival of exceptionally high temperatures in the middle of June. Since flowering, the progressive rise in temperatures has accelerated the rhythm and fruit set was observed in mid July. Thunderstorms at the end of the month have provided some refreshment, but we are still hoping for a more generous watering of the vines which are beginning to suffer slightly. The coming weeks will be decisive for the future development of the vines."

For more information on Maison Lamblin, visit www.lamblin.com.