Château de Lavernette, Leynes

Château de Lavernette label

Country & RegionFrance, Burgundy
Appellation(s)Beaujolais, Pouilly-Fuissé
ProducerBertrand and Anke, Xavier and Kerrie de Boissieu


Chateau de Lavernette through door


Château de Lavernette vineyards



Chateau de Lavernette Kerrie and Xavier de Boissieu

Xavier had never been comfortable farming with modern chemical inputs, and in 2005 he and Bertrand embarked on an experiment that continues to this day. They segregated 20 rows of Chardonnay of the same clone (CL277) and rootstock (SO4) all planted in 1988 in the Beaujolais Blanc vineyard. Ten rows were treated entirely organically and the other ten were treated biodynamically. Early on, the results showed little differentiation, but by the third harvest when the grapes were blind-tasted among the harvesters, most preferred the biodynamically-farmed grapes. These days, when they do the test with their harvesters, it’s nine out of ten people who prefer the BD grapes and their balance between sugar and acid. It’s far from a scientific test, but then again with wine subjective impressions can be everything.

The Wines

Crémant de Bourgogne
Granit Blanc de NoirsGamay
This is the creation of Xavier and Kerrie, who traveled to Champagne to meet with growers such as Egly-Ouriet, Agrapart, Larmandier Bernier and others for advice before starting this project. The grapes come from the estate Gamay vines growing on granite soils. The wine, a méthode champenoise, is made in-house exactly like the crémant. Anyone who may think that Gamay has no business in Champagne method wines needs to take a look at the Aube, where as much as 40% of the vineyard surface was planted to Gamay prior to World War II.
Bourgogne Blanc

Pouilly-Fuissé "Maison du Villard"
ChardonnayLavernette has four old-vine parcels in this climat, which spans the southern flank below the hilltop village of Chaintré. The parcels total four acres, planted in 1959, 1964, 1970, and 1971. The wine is raised entirely in tank and drinks very much "on the stone," as they say.
Pouilly-Fuissé Cuvée Jean-Jacques de Boissieu
Pouilly-Fuissé "Vers Châne"ChardonnayThis two-acre parcel grows near the crest of the hill that forms one side of the bowl of Fuissé. The vines average 32 years of age and the wine’s élevage typically lasts 22 months in barrel, which is mostly old (for 2015, 20% of the wood was new, a high percentage reflecting the ripe vintage). This is very much of a wine that drinks on the stone, full of underpinning minerality.
Beaujolais-VillagesGamayLavernette has nearly 16 acres of Gamay, all growing just south of the château on a granite slope. Of these acres, the younger blocks planted between the mid-nineteen sixties to the mid-eighties go into the classic Beaujolais-Villages cuvée. Normally, the percentage of whole clusters in the ferments dominate, but there usually is some de-stemmed fruit too, and how much varies according to the vintage. This cuvée is raised entirely in tank.

Lavernette's granite soils have a good amount of clay, more than what's usually found in Beaujolais. This makes for fuller-bodied wines (clay typically translates into tannin for reds; think Pommard as opposed to Volnay). In a 1894 reference book on the region's wines, Leynes' red was reputed to be highly esteemed, with good color and structure, and a 15 to 20-year life span!

Beaujolais-Leynes "Le Clos"GamayThis comes from the château's best parcels of Gamay, 4.2 acres that were planted in 1957, 1961 and 1967, and grow in a walled vineyard. Leynes is one of thirty-nine villages entitled to use its names within the Beaujolais-Villages appellation. Normally, the ferments for Le Clos are predominately whole cluster, but as with the classic cuvée above there's usually some de-stemmed fruit and the amount varies according to the year. Leynes is made traditionally in older barrels, racked only at bottling, and never fined.