Marsannay Chardonnay Rose 2022 90VM/89JM
Sylvain Pataille

(88-90) Vinous
The 2022 Marsannay Blanc Chardonnay Rose, which Pataille likened to Pinot Beurot, has a strict nose with touches of dried lemon and orange rind, but overall, it is quite minimalist in style. The palate is lively on the entry, with a touch of CO2, an attractive texture, and a touch of chai and chamomile towards the finish. Fine. - By Neal Martin on November 2023
The titular winemaker was away when I dropped in at their rather cozy cellar in Marsannay, but his brother Laurent, who incidentally makes wine under his own name, was on hand. He guided me through their wide range based around Aligoté, Pataille being the vanguard of the Les Aligoteur movement, not to mention his enticing array of site-specific Marsannay cuvées. Laurent Pataille looks much like his brother with those thick curly locks, initially more taciturn than Sylvain but soon chatting away. These are low-intervention wines with minimal and occasionally no use of sulfur. Many are aged for the first year in wooden foudres before being racked into used barrels. Pataille could not remember the exact picking date, except that harvest started in early September. I found a couple of cuvées just a little too natural for my liking, which set a few alarm bells ringing, while others were exceptionally fine and remain excellent value-for-money to boot.

Variety: Chardonnay Rose

Vine Age: Oldest planted in 1949, propagation in 2009, 2013-14

Terroir: Originally Les Blangeys, now multiple Marsannay parcels

Viticulture: Certified organic, biodynamic methods

Vinification: Indigenous yeast alcoholic fermentation. Aged for 15 months in 3 to 4-year-old barrels, minimal sulfur added only at bottling.

Chardonnay Rose is a genetic mutation of the Chardonnay grape specific to the village of Marsannay. Sylvain Pataille first noticed the mutation in 2002, when he acquired his Blangeys parcel, and found some surprisingly pink grapes at harvest. From 2002 until 2005, his Marsannay Blanc was 100% Chardonnay Rose from Blangeys, then he began to blend in Chardonnay from other parcels to complete the cuvée.

But Sylvain wasn't content with mixing this unique grape variety with traditional Chardonnay. He continued his research from there, finally using his vines from Les Blangeys to propagate the variety, planting at high density (20,000 vines per hectare) in 2009 and then in 2013 and 2014.

2014 is the first vintage for this cuvée, but as Sylvain's young massal selection vines come of age for wine production, we're hoping to see more than the current 2 barrels produced in the future.