Domaine du Haut Bourg, 2016 Update
I never overlook the opportunity to taste the latest releases from Nicolas (pictured below) and Hervé Choblet of Domaine du Haut Bourg. When you look at the wines below, which really are all the ‘latest releases’, you will probably soon understand why. In short, alongside the traditional sur lie wines, released during the course of the year following the harvest. Nicolas and Hervé fashion a couple of very convincing long lees-aged wines; these are the Signature du Haut Bourg and Origine du Haut Bourg, the current releases from the 2010 and 2005 vintages respectively.
Keen to further push the quality envelope when it comes to their wines, Nicolas and Hervé are making changes in the vineyard. They have been working to the Terra Vitis charter in 2015 vintage, and will progress this in coming vintages. They are reining in their use of herbicides on the domaine, and have completely stopped their application on 15 hectares. This is a really admirable move in Muscadet, which is not the most profitable of vineyards, and it is not easy moving towards less chemically dependent viticulture. Just ask, for example, Jo Landron, who only succeeded in the change on his second attempt.
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