Domaine Federic Esmonin
Wine dinner at Michelin-starred Restaurant!
Together with wine maker Frédéric Esmonin, we'd like to enthrall you on a wine journey through the 2016 vintage of wines across Gevrey-Chambertin. We're delighted to have Michelin-starred Imperial Teochew partnering us to curate a mounth-watering selection of awesome cuisine!
The 2016 vintage:
2016 was a pretty challenging vintage for many vignerons in burgundy. The frost in April garnered much attention particularly to the damage done to the Cote de Beaune and several other appelletions in the region. The hailstorm in May which decimated many of Chablis didn't help. Summer was finally classically warm to allow the ripening of the grapes for a mid-end september harvest.
Buying Strategy: I can see no reason – bar the rather important one of pricing – not to go large this year, since 2016 offers both quality and character....As for the reds, it was not hard to predict that a number of Burgundy lovers, be they vignerons, critics, importers or consumers, were going to propound the view that “while everybody is praising 2015 to the skies, we actually prefer 2016”.
I can certainly say that I found tasting the 2016 reds extremely exciting. - Jasper Morris, MW
Domaine Frédéric Esmonin
Domaine Frédéric Esmonin is a small domaine in Les Estournelles, Gevrey-Chambertin. It has approximately 3.6 hectares vineyards. The production of each wine is tiny with the average production of each of the vineyard designated wines varying from around 75 cases to 300 cases. Most of the holdings at this Domaine have old vines. Prior to 1987 the wines were sold to negociants such as Leroy and Jadot. Some of the very great wines of the 50s from Leroy are believed to have come from this Domaine. Those wines can still be remarkable today. Domaine Frédéric Esmonin is in relatively in the shadow of the cousin Sylvie Esmonin and represents a great value in the blossoming world wide demand of burgundy wines.
The domaine produces around sixty thousand bottles per year, by volume there is just a little more négoce wine today, mainly from ‘smaller labels’ such as Bourgogne. Until 2004 they had some more interesting labels under a metayage agreement with Domaine Thomas-Moillard which brought-in Bonnes-Mares, Chambertin and Clos de Bèze. The contract for Griotte-Chambertin as unfortunately ended in 1996.
Frédéric is in his mid-forties and with the help of his father André and mother Michelle engages in a traditional family-run domaine. (Sylvie Esmonin is a cousin). André had previously sold all the produce of the domaine to a quite decent selection of négoce: Drouhin, Jadot and Leroy. Starting in 1988 they began to commercialise their own bottles. About 1/3rd of the wines go to the US, but UK and Japan are well represented, the wines are little known in France; “we have good quality price relationship, so we always have more demand than wine” says Frédéric.
The wine marking is largely organic, as ‘lutte raissonée’ translating to ‘reasoned struggle’, with no herbicides and regularly ploughing and after a decade, the soil is accepted as ‘bio’. The wines are made with 100% destemmed grapes, cold macerated for 5-6 days before the fermentation begins using only indigenous yeast. Fermatation temperature is relatively high at 34-35 deg Celcius. The Esmonins believe in pigeage and remontage (pumping via gravity, and stirring to encourage the yeasts to activate further. As much as 80% new oak is used especially for the Gran Cru and depending on vintage.
The menu
Do join us for us for a delightful evening with michelin-starred fine dining with exceptional wines.
Reserve your seats via:
1) replying this email:
2) jon@winejourney.com.sg
3)+65-81885650
Single seats priced at $248nett
Come with friends at just $238nett/pax