Location: Vury, Cote Chalonnaise Grape Varietals: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

LAURENT COGNARD is the new kid on the block in Burgundy, even though his

family name has been spoken in the vineyards of Côte

Chalonnaise for many decades. But he has already proven himself as a winemaker with exceptional

talent. Born in 1975, he exudes confidence and drive and has a crystal-clear understanding of what

constitutes a great Chardonnay de terroir.

CRAFT + ESTATE PRESENTS

REPUTATION

Laurent’s flagship wine is the Montagny 1er Cru “Les Bassets,” which he sources from his 2.35 hectare monopole of premier cru Chardonnay vines in the upper portion of the vineyard. The lower section is village wine. His first commercial vintage of Les Bassets, produced in 2002, put Domaine Laurent Cognard on the wine map. When this premier cru is young, it shows ripe, fruit-forward flavors with outstanding minerality; as it ages, it develops more richness and a fleshy, opulent texture.

In 1997, when Laurent was 22, he left his family vineyard for Paris. His grandfather, Raymond Cognard, had supplied grapes to the Vinzelles co-op in the Mâconnais, and his parents, Jean and Marie Anne, sold their fruit to the cooperative in Bissey, near Buxy. Laurent, however, felt that it was “pathetic” to put so much work into growing the grapes only to sell them. He believed that those

who know a vineyard’s vines and have worked its soil can make much better wine from that vineyard. His goal became to bottle the first vintage of Les Bassets.

Laurent worked as a wine consultant for the fine wine section of a major brewery in Lyon and as a commercial agent for Champagne Billecart-Salmon in Paris. He came home to Buxy in Côte Chalonnaise during harvest for several years, making the first vintages of the Montagny wines. For the first time ever, the family’s grapes were vinified and domaine bottled, rather than delivered to the local cooperative. In 2006, Laurent returned home permanently to take over his parents’ vineyards. He brought with him insight into what constitutes a truly fine wine as well as a broad perspective in wine marketing and sales, gained through his earlier working experience.

Laurent knew that because his vineyards are outside the Côte d’Or, he would need to work harder for recognition. He also realized that wines produced in the Côte Chalonnaise deliver exceptional value. And that secret was getting out, as critics mentioned that an extremely fine premier cru Montagny wine could be purchased for less than a village wine from Puligny-Montrachet or Meursault.

Still, there are many who do not yet know about the Côte Chalonnaise. This region is rich not only in very quaffable wines, but also in history. The tiny village of Montagny-lès-Buxy likely takes its name from Montanum, a name the Romans gave a village in this region around 2,000 years ago. This sleepy area lies in the appellation of the Côte Chalonnaise, which, along with

You need the same

drive during harvest

and vinification to

make good wines

as rugby players

need in the scrum.

Mâconnaise, is in the Saône-et-Loire département of southern Burgundy.

GRAPE GROWING

After establishing his domaine, Laurent immediately focused on improving his seven hectares of vines with naturally sustainable and lutte raisonnée techniques. He began plowing under the vine canopies to drive the roots deeper into the soil so that they would absorb more minerals for terroir flavors in the wines. He now leaves a narrow band of grass between the rows to prevent erosion and ground compaction. In rainy years, the grass also provides traction for the tractors in the region’s clay-limestone soils.

The 30-year-old premiers crus vines, which lie within the village of Buxy, are rooted in limestone and clay soils. The vineyard is on an east-facing hillside, with the vines planted in an east-west orientation. Laurent prunes his vines in a single Guyot, preferring to leave a long baguette and then selectively remove buds. This spaces out the shoots and improves air circulation to prevent mildew, as well as increasing sun exposure on the clusters. He believes that limiting production through pruning is superior to removing excess green clusters once they have developed.

As the grapes approach full ripening, Laurent makes his picking decisions based on tasting the flavor and tannin maturity of the seeds and skins, as well as on pH, acid and sugar analysis. He would rather err on the side of over-ripe than not mature; however, he strives for the perfect balance of minerality and fresh flavors. “Late harvested fruit goes into overdrive on pear and peach character,” he says.

Laurent employs local harvesters, who come quickly once he has decided the optimum day to pick each specific vineyard. The rush to get the grapes into fermentation then begins. The hand-harvested grapes are sorted in the vineyard and again at the winery.

Laurent, who was once a rugby player and has a warm, burly presence, likens wine-making to rugby: “You need the same drive during harvest and vinification to make good wines as rugby players need in the scrum.”

WINEMAKING

“Making white wines is easy if you have good, sound grapes. Some people find making reds to be more interesting because they are more challenging, but I like to make the Montagny,” Laurent says, referring to the premier cru Les Bassets.

“I prefer to ferment the wines with native yeast. However, some years that have hail, like 2011, I may choose a cultured yeast that would begin fermentation quickly and prevent oxidation,” explains Laurent. “Normally, the fermentation begins on its own in the barrel.”

He presses the grapes and lets the juice cold settle overnight in a stainless steel tank before transferring it directly into a combination of 225-liter barrels and 500-liter puncheons for fermentation. Laurent’s favorite coopers are François Frères, Dargaud et Jaeglé and Damy from the Allier and Vosges forests. Laurent likes the fact that the larger puncheons provide texture and flavor development while contributing minimal oak character because of their smaller wine-to-wood ratio. For those wines that he prefers to have more pronounced oak character, he uses a portion of new, small barrels. He currently has eight puncheons and 13 small barrels and uses 10 percent new oak combined with two- and three-year-old casks. Laurent also makes a special cuvée, Montagny Premier Cru Cuvée Maxence, named for his daughter and fermented in entirely new oak.

From his work with Champagne, Laurent knows that the longer the fermentation, the finer the wine. A short primary fermentation is a hot one, so he takes care to keep the wines as cool as possible in the barrel. The bâtonnage regime (the number of times that the lees are stirred weekly or monthly) depends on the vineyard lot and vintage. For example, in 2010 Laurent implemented only three batonnages; he finds he is decreasing this regime each year because he feels it contributes to a heaviness in the wines contrary to his style of retaining as much freshness as possible. Laurent also wants the malolactic fermentation to complete slowly, finishing in July or August before the next harvest. After about one year of aging, the wines are filtered and bottled.

“I make wines to drink now,” says Laurent of his portfolio of four whites and one red Burgundy wine, all from his estate. “I like the fresh fruit expression and minerality, so I consider two to three years to be the optimum period of consumption.”

Appellations Villages Premiers Crus

Appellations Villages

Bourgogne Côte ChalonnaiseBourgogne (blanc et rouge)Bourgogne aligotéBourgogne Côtes du Couchois

ChagnyBouzeron

Mercurey

Rully

Givry

Montagny-lès-Buxy

Dijon

Mâcon

Cluny

Montceau-les-Mines

Canal d

u Cen

tre

COUCHOIS

CÔ

TE

CH

AL

ON

NA

I SE

Dracy-lès-Couches

Saint-Jean-de-Trézy

Couches

Saint-Gilles

Dennevy

Barizey

Jambles

Saint-Désert

Buxy

Jully-lès-Buxy

Fley

SaulesSaint-Boil

Germagny

GenouillyCulles-

lès-Roches

Santilly

Sercy

Saint-Martin-du-Tartre

Vaux-en-Pré Saint-Maurice-des-ChampsSaint-Clément-

sur-Guye

Rosey

Sassangy

Dracy-le-FortSaint-Denis-de-Vaux

Charrecey

Saint-Léger-sur-Dheune

Chamilly

Remigny

Chassey-le-Camp

V I G N O B L ED U M Â C O N N A I S

A 6

N 80

N 80

D 978

189 D

189 D

V I G N O B L ED E L A C Ô T E D E B E AU N E

Chalon-sur-Saône

THE WINES

Montagny 1er Cru “Les Bassets”Montagny Les Bassets 1er Cru is the flagship wine of the domaine. The vineyard lies near the commune of Buxy with the lower portion classified as village and the upper portion classified as premier cru. The 5.8 acre upper portion belongs entirely to Laurent Cognard. The vineyard has an eastern exposure with limestone soil and an average vine age of 25 years. The wine is aged in a combination of 10% new 228-liter Burgundian pièce and 500-liter puncheons.

PouiLLy-LoChÉ

Pouilly-Loché is one of five village AOCs in the Mâconnais and is often considered in the same class as the more famous Pouilly-Fuissé. The name Pouilly was added to that of Loché as a reminder that the village of Pouilly is only 1.5 miles to the west. The climat of aux Barres sits between Pouilly-Fuissé and the village of Loché. White wines from Mâconnais typically show riper flavors and richer flavors than regions to the north. Laurent Cognard describes this wine as

“joyeux,” and full of exuberance, with ripe apple and lemon flavors, counterbalanced by minerality.

MerCurey 1er Cru “CLos du Paradis”Mercurey is one of five main villages in the Côte Chalonnaise with its own AOC and is permitted to produce red, white, and rosé. It is one of the best-known appellations in the Côte Chalonnaise and is famous for its Pinot Noir which at its best can rival the reds of the Côte de Beaune. Clos du Paradis 1er Cru sits just outside of the small commune of St-Martin-sous-Montaigu. It is aged in a combination of 10% new 228-liter Burgundian pièce and 500-liter puncheons. Mercurey Rouge tends to be firmly structured, a bit rough when young, with firm tannins and an ability to age well. Like the reds from the Côte de Beaune, Mercurey Rouge is often red-fruit oriented, with aromas and flavors of red cherries, raspberries, flowers, and herbs.

Montagny 1er Cru CLos du Vieux ChÂteau

Clos du Vieux Château is a premier cru vineyard overlooking the village of Buxy on a sheltered hillside of white limestone soil. Laurent regained the vineyard for his own domaine in 2008 after many years of selling the grapes under contract to Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot. It is aged in a combination of 10% new 228-liter Burgundian pièce and 500-liter puncheons.

Montagny 1er Cru CuVÉe MaxenCe

Cuvée Maxence is named after Laurent’s eldest daughter and is a special selection of very ripe Chardonnay grapes from the domaine’s premier cru vineyards in Montagny. The grapes are trained to a maximum yield of 30-hectoliters per hectare and are harvested later to give full ripeness. Fermentation and aging 100% is done in new oak barrels with regular “bâtonnage.” Cuvée Maxence is only produced in exceptional years.

© 2017 Selected and Imported by Winebow, Inc., New York, NY | Photographs by Michel Joly | Map courtesy of www.bourgogne-wines.com