Ric visits Domaine Seguin-Manuel

Domaine Seguin-Manuel, located in Savigny-les-Beaune, can trace its roots back to 1824. However, its wines only really took off in 2004 after the domaine was acquired by Thibault Marion, who had cut his teeth in the wine business with Chanson. Its domaine holdings of around 8 hectares in Vosne-Romanée, Pommard and Beaune are augmented by a negociant buy-in from several other choice locations throughout the Cote d’Or such that its entire portfolio is actually quite impressively extensive. Certified for organic viticulture since 2015, Thibault crosses the ‘t’s and dots the ‘i’s: careful vineyard practices, horse ploughing, low yields, avoidance of herbicides and crushing. De-stemming varies widely, particularly in Vosne-Romanée and Pommard where it is only partial. Up to 25% new oak is utilised for its village wines, while new barrels with longer wood drying periods are used for other wines. When we visited him on 25 October 2018, the tasting took place in a conference room where the 2017 barrel samples, most curiously, had been prepared in small clear plastic bottles complete with proper labeling. The wines generally demonstrate a certain freshness and roundness with clean focus and sophistication, well-extracted but far from being over-zealous. They represent great value.

Thibault Marion

2017 Domaine Seguin-Manuel Pommard Petits Noizons. Village. Good aromatics. Fresh and lively, showing good concentration. Cleanly focused, slightly crisp. Intense structured finish.

2017 Domaine Seguin-Manuel Beaune Champimonts 1er. Reticent. Ripe raspberries and wild berries dominate on the palate, taut with austere minerality, displaying good verve and gentle intensity. Quite masculine.

2015 Domaine Seguin-Manuel Vosne Romanée Aux Communes. Lovely ruby. Well developed bouquet of dark plums and red cherries, displaying sharp attack upon its entry. Fleshy with fine definition and lively acidity, showing good power and intensity with excellent integration of fine tannins at its finish. Excellent.

2017 Domaine Seguin-Manuel Vosne Romanée Aux Communes. Bright in color. Shy, just a tinge of earth. Soft, fleshy and open on the palate with distinct minerality, good presence and mouthfeel, quite gentle at its finish. Attractive.

2017 Maison Seguin-Manuel Gevrey-Chambertin VV. From 40-year-old vines. Distant rosy aromas. Rather full. Fleshy and rounded with earthy undertones. Slightly stern.

2017 Maison Seguin-Manuel Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes 1er. Attractive red fruits. Open with fine depth, elegance and balance with undertones of ash and ember, finishing with juicy sweet tannins.

2017 Maison Seguin-Manuel Gevrey Chambertin Cazetiers 1er. Good colour, exuding aromas of warm ripe red fruits with a suggestion of hot gravel. Good attack on a palate dominated by ripe red fruits tinged with grassy elements, rounded and fleshy, showing good handling of tannins. Good length. Attractive.

2017 Maison Seguin-Manuel Échezeaux Grand Cru. Good color but shut. Clean feel on the palate with textures of dried mushrooms, displaying fine presence of preserved red fruits and incense with a tinge of woody elements. Seamless and fleshy. Good finish.

2017 Maison Seguin-Manuel Chambertin-Clos des Bèze Grand Cru. Only 1 barrel. Good colour. Gentle plummy tones and rose petals on the nose. Fleshy with well-integrated supple acidity that imparted plenty of freshness, very well-layered and textured, producing good mouthfeel. Just slightly short.

2017 Maison Seguin-Manuel Montagny 1er Vigne du Soleil. Sweet bouquet. Medium-full. Softly rounded with good acidity intensity, fleshing out with greater fullness over time, ending with nutmeg and spicy tones. 15% new oak.

2016 Maison Seguin-Manuel Rully VV. Lovely glow of chalky minerals, lifted with excellent freshness. Medium-bodied and open, displaying good presence and transparency but somewhat straightforward and short.

2017 Maison Seguin-Manuel Rully VV. Gentle glow of wild grass and fresh morning dew. Fleshy and medium-bodied, displaying good concentration, focus and layering with understated intensity.

2017 Domaine Seguin-Manuel Savigny-les-Beaune Goudelettes. Soft perfumed fragrance on the nose. Dry with firm minerality, presence and intensity. Very cleanly focused, finishing well.

2017 Maison Seguin-Manuel Puligny-Montrachet VV. Lifted rich gleaming tone of creamy white fruits and sweet floral fragrance. Medium-full with a firm minerally tone underscored with white pepper, displaying good focus, fine acidity and intensity. Excellent.