In essence, Les Vignerons de Buxy is a co-operative, and that unfortunately leaves an understated feeling about their wines even before you taste them. We think of co-ops as mass-produced wine with no quality control. A wine with no romantic or emotional attachment to the stories of individual families. And yet while Vignerons de Buxy is a co-op, they do not struggle with the disadvantages listed above.
In 1931, a group of grape farmers banded together to form their own company, 93 families in total. To this day, nearly 83 years later, Vignerons de Buxy is completely owned by 270 members including 120 wine-growing families. The family base has not grown tremendously over the years and partly due to their strict rules. Vignerons de Buxy employes 40 but most importantly 1 enologist, Alain Pierre, and 1 viticulturist. Each farm is tediously inspected to make sure the growers are following each other’s rules. Because of this, Vignerons de Buxy is one of the first in Burgundy to be Certified Grower in Sustainabliity Development by the VDD (Vignerons Development Durable).
This conglomerate of vignerons takes their name from Buxy, a tiny village above Montagny. In Montagny alone, Vignerons de Buxy’s farmers own 65% of the AOC land of Montagny, reserved solely for white wine production. In the Cote Chalonnaise they own roughly 65% of the Chardonnay land and 75% of the Pinot Noir. That’s an outstanding number considering the size of the area.
Location of The Cave des Vignerons de Buxy:
The Wines
Vignerons de Buxy Bourgogne Cote Chalonnaise Chardonnay
Clear and bright, medium intense lemon colour. Youthful on the nose with moderate aroma intensity. Aromas of red apple and pear, white apricot, honeysuckle, blossoms with a touch of autolytic notes. On the mouth, the body was a nice weight to it (medium + body) with a creamy mouthfeel. Elevated acidity (medium +) expresses freshness. Flavours translate completely from the nose with no to minimal notes of oak. Medium + length and balanced nicely.
Vignerons de Buxy Bourgogne Cote Chalonnaise Pinot Noir 2012
Clean and bright in appearance, medium ruby colour. Youthful, medium intense and simple on the nose. Red and black cherry, slight spiciness, and a touch of forest floor. The palate is very approachable and not offending, medium across the board. Not overly complexed either, but pure expression of basic Pinot Noir from a difficult year.
“Buissonnier” is a term for small trees, bushes, or hedges that separate properties.
Vignerons de Buxy Mercurey 2012
Clean and bright on the appearance, medium ruby in colour. On the initial smell, the wine screams cola on it’s medium + intense youthful nose. Underneath lies red cherry, black raspberry, menthol, and a little bit of spice of tobacco. More intense in all ways on the palate, medium + across. More red cherry shows through on the palate also, with black cherry, cola, menthol, and spice. Medium + length. Certainly the star of the two reds in terms of structure, complexed and length.
Not only does Vignerons de Buxy make all their wines from all family-grown properties with the up most care to quality and care for the soil, they do it on an extremely affordable basis compared to the extreme rising costs of Burgundian wine. Good quality, Non-negociant wine can be drunk everyday and Vignerons de Buxy proves it.
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