Rijckaert Viré-Clessé Rendez-Vous de Septembre 2022
A delicate honeysuckle nose with yellow peach, quince and a hint of chamomile. The palate is bright and full of tension with a tangy green apple note alongside white melon and apricot flavours, combined with more gentle honeyed hues at the core of the wine, to produce a complex and long finish.
The appellation of Viré-Clessé is relatively new, founded in 1998, aiming to mark out a small and high quality area not within the more prestigious Pouilly-Fuissé region. The soil has a high proportion of limestone alongside clay which brings wines with great finesse, aromatic complexity and fine acidity.
The grapes are subject to slow and moderate pressing to yield only high quality juice, followed by fermentation using indigenous yeasts and spontaneous malolactic fermentation, then barrel ageing of ten months in used oak - predominantly over ten years old - to avoid any strong impact on the character of the wine. Throughout this period they follow the philosophy of low input, avoiding the use of enzymes to settle the wine, long ageing on the lees with no batonnage or fining, all of which enhances the expression of the terroir.
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Alcoholic strength | 13% |
| Country | France |
| Region | Burgundy |
| Subregion | Viré-Clessé |
| Grapes | Chardonnay 100% |
| Dry/Sweet value | 1 |
| Contains sulphites | Yes |
| Vegetarian | Yes |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Milk | No |
| Eggs | No |
| Organic | No |
| Biodynamic | No |
| Closure | Cork |
Vins Rijckaert began in 1998, founded by Jean Rijckaert a passionate Flemish winemaker who had been working in the region since 1990. He sought to establish a domaine under his name, and in order to achieve this he bought four hectares in Mâconnais (focused on Viré Clessé), as well as five hectares in the Jura where he fell in love with the spectacular terroir, thus establishing two cellars and making him the first person to make wines simultaneously in both regions. In 2013 Jean met his alter ego Florent Rouve, who became his protégé and thereafter he gradually handed over his savoir faire and philosophy, as well as business activities. Florent has continued to evolve the style of Vins Rijckaert wines with his own signature, marking them with great freshness and precision.
