Location and terroir

A Burgundy vineyard in the Yonne department,AOC Irancy has been a recognized Village appellation since 1999, producing exclusively red wines. This appellation takes its name from Irancy, one of the most typical villages in the Auxerrois vineyards, with its sumptuous church, beautiful winegrowers’ houses and the home of the architect Soufflot, to whom we owe the Pantheon in Paris.

The terroir of this 315-hectare appellation is shaped like a basin, surrounded by slopes and the birth of a plateau. Not far away is the Yonne, cooling the vineyards and bringing a morning mist. On the ground, we find Kimmeridgian properties, similar to Chablis: alternating marl and marly limestone characterized by the abundant presence of a small comma-shaped oyster, originating some 150 million years ago.

As throughout Burgundy, there is a system of climats: the vineyards are divided into lieux-dits. In theIrancy appellation, you’ll only find climats classified as “Village”. However, some Irancy climats are better known than others, such as “La Palotte”, “Les Mazelots” and “Les Cailles”, because they benefit from an exceptional, south-facing slope, maximizing exposure to the sun and ensuring better grape ripeness.

In contrast to other Burgundy terroirs, apart from the Mâconnais, a grape variety other than Pinot Noir is authorized for red wine production: Caesar. This local grape variety must not account for more than 10% of the volume of the irancy, if the wine is to retain its appellation. Although not obligatory, it is often present in the traditional way: it adds color, tannins and notes of red fruit.

History

Like the rest of Burgundy, Irancy owes its winegrowing development to the presence of Christian abbeys, as early as the beginning of the Middle Ages. In 1395, Philippe le Hardi, then Duke of Burgundy, decided to improve the quality of his duchy’s wines by banning the “disloyal gamay” grape variety and decreeing single-varietal viticulture, which is still in force today: pinot noir for reds and chardonnay for whites! It is said that Caesar was brought to the region by Roman legions during the conquest of Gaul, hence its somewhat imperial name…

Wines

Depending on whether it has Caesar or not, Irancy will have a more or less intense color, ranging from a light cherry to a deeper purple. On the nose, Morello cherry predominates, along with other red and black fruits such as blackcurrant, blackberry and raspberry, sometimes enhanced by peppery, reglissé notes due to the ageing method. On the palate, this wine is lively, with good acidity balanced by a firm, velvety structure.

Perfect with civets and poultry. Serve with chaource or soumaintrain cheese!

Vintage 2017

The curse of vintage 7s ends here! After several complicated years in terms of volume, due to weather that was not always collaborative, Burgundy is back to full production levels. This vintage is both quantitative and generally qualitative, since phenolic ripeness, which in this case means the ripeness of tannins and anthocyanins, responsible for a wine’s structure and color respectively, is almost 100%, ensuring perfect balance and good ageing potential. The dry, hot summer produced wines with concentrated aromas. Careful though, as yields were massive that year, they had to be artificially limited, which unfortunately wasn’t always the case: the result was some acidic, diluted wines with weak aromas.