Domaine Jaulin-Plaisantin: The Cuvées
As already indicated, the élevage includes both cement tanks and barrels, the latter a mix of sizes, including 225-litre Bordelaise and 400-litre Bourgogne barrels. Some are quite old though, and Yves is not sure of the benefit of smaller barrels believing they may have a negative impact on the wine. Thus he would like to change to 600-litre barrels, or even a 25-hectolitre foudre, but such things are expensive, and in these early years the domaine is being run very much on a hand-to-mouth basis.
The choice of cement versus oak depends on the cuvée, and below I provide a run-down of the various cuvées Yves came up with.
Le Dolmen is named for the gigantic but sadly ruined dolmen (pictured on the previous page) that sits by the roadside in Briançon. The land around Briançon is slightly elevated, as are a handful of other nearby villages. When the Vienne floods (which as all Loire geeks know, happens annually), these mounds of land become islands, the land high enough to prevent flooding to houses and, importantly to us, vines too. Yves and Sébastien own the tiny parcel of vines that sits right next to the dolmen, hence the name of the cuvée, although the wine is in fact sourced from a large number of parcels around the village, of which this is just one. The terroir of origin for this cuvée is thus sandy, making for an easy-drinking wine. The élevage reflects this, with just six months in cement cuve.
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