Ric visits Domaine Thibert Père & Fils

As the mainstream wines of Burgundy become more and more exposed with prices set to climb even higher as demand can never be satiated, the smart move would be to source for the “next big thing”. That may jolly well come from way south of Burgundy in the Mâconnais region, and a very strong contender there would be Domaine Thibert Père et Fils, run by Christophe Thibert and his sister Sandrine. From humble beginnings in 1967, this domaine has now expanded to 39 hectares centered around Saint-Veran, Pouilly and Mâcon, all grown and farmed entirely by the domaine. The vines are old, the oldest stretching back to the 1920s while the youngest, planted in 1969, are not young in any way. Combining traditional and modern practices, Christophe prefers the freedom to do things as he deems fit instead of being tied down to any dogma. Nestled within the rustic rolling hills of Fuissé next to an old chapel, Domaine Thibert is a modern and sophisticated set-up with clean and beautiful cellars. When we visited on the morning of 30 October 2018 after a very long drive from Vosne-Romanée, Christophe was busy tending to his various 2017s and the freshly-pressed 2018s sitting in long rows of stainless steel tanks. Running up and down, continually making fine adjustments here and there, one can see that Christophe is gripped by an absolute obsession for his passion. Christophe prefers a longer elevage of 20-22 months and uses up to 50% new oak. After tasting the 2017s, we settled down for lunch within the cellars where a line-up of back vintages had been prepared. Here, the wines truly come into their own after having spent time in bottle. They are plump, elegant and richly layered with outstanding fruit, acidity and minerality. If only we could be drinking this sort of wines every day. Well, you could, before prices start moving. Interestingly, his wine bottles are specially shaped with longer-than-usual necks, another of Christophe’s quirks. This really is an excellent domaine.

2017 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Saint-Verain Champ Rond. Great lifted perfumed floral fragrance of light green fruits, citrus and fig that carried very well onto the finely detailed palate, finishing with lovely freshness and fine intensity.

2017 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Saint-Verain Bois des Fee. Single vineyard. Highly delicate nose filled with lovely fullness and chalkiness coupled with excellent presence of fresh lime and yellow citrus on the palate. Very clean and precise, displaying great detail with very fine acidity and intensity. Excellent.

2017 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé Les Cras. Single vineyard, from 58 year-old vines. Lovely tingling dense perfumed fragrance. Medium-full. Quite delicate and poised with clean understated intensity and structure, finishing well with excellent mouthfeel.

2017 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé Vigne Blanche. Intense lime on the nose with a tinge of bitter lemon. Zesty with plenty of verve, displaying excellent concentration and acidity.

2017 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé Menetrieres. Full bloom of intensely delicate lime and citrus on the nose. Medium-full. Shows tremendous zest, freshness and precision, very fine in acidity and minerality. Delicious with plenty of finesse. Excellent.

2017 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Longeays. From 2 ha of vines. Lifted clean bouquet of delicate lime and citrus with a fresh clean floral bloom. Medium-full, imbued with subdued chalkiness and subtle earthy minerals, exuding lovely elegance and balance, finishing well. Excellent.

2017 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Loché En Chantone. Single vineyard. Highly lifted bouquet of intense yellow citrus. Full presence of warm ripe fruit, poised with lovely elegance and understated acidity, tinged with traces of sweetness. Very lovely.

Christophe Thibert

2016 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Mâcon-Verzé. Rich chalky creamy nose, highly attractive. Rather full and plump with a fresh clean feel on the palate, displaying good delicacy with sublime understated acidity, finishing gently with good linearity. Very pleasurable.

2016 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Longeays. Plump effusive bouquet of intense white citrus and dense minerals, displaying excellent presence, concentration and transparency with fine acidity, layered with complex minerals. Lovely delicate finish. Excellent.

2015 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Saint-Verain Champ Rond. Fabulous deep bouquet of rich creamy minerals that hinted at immense elegance. Medium-full, displaying excellent concentration, depth and intensity of fruit with great definition amidst smoky overtones and oily textures, layered with sublime acidity, finishing well. Superb.

2015 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Longeays. Very unique bouquet of intense citrus, floral and savoury tones. Medium-full. Full, fresh and elegant, imbued with great acidity with further depth of fruit and a hint of gun smoke, showing some early complexity, finishing with great length and linearity. Excellent.

2015 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Saint-Verain Bois des Fee. Superb bouquet. Glorious luminous fruit of wonderful depth, richly layered with ash, immense concentration of citrus and dense chalky minerals that stood out with chiselled presence, complemented by superb acidity and complex minerals. Plump and opulent, finishing with great linearity and persistence. Outstanding.

2015 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Loché En Chantone. Dense chalky minerally nose underscored by crisp acidity with great concentration of intense citrus, showing great vigour and early complexity with overtones of ash. Weighty but well-balanced, finishing with great persistence. Excellent.

2015 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé Vigne Blanche. Rounded bouquet, medium-bodied, elegantly poised with gentle white fruits and understated acidity, finishing with glowing intensity. Lovely.

2013 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé Les Cras. Rich chalky bouquet, rounded with open depth with a firm full minerally tone on the palate marked by lifted citrus, not overwhelming, developing explosive complexity with food. Quite excellent.

2008 Domaine Thibert Père & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé Vigne Blanche. Poured from magnum. Deep enthralling bouquet of complex white fruits and dense minerals that led to a precise delicate palate of chalky minerals on a backdrop of dense oily petroleum textures and sublime acidity, superb in definition, finishing with great length. Outstanding.