2022 Renaud Boyer Bourgogne Rouge Les Riaux
WINEMAKER: Renaud Boyer
REGION: Burgundy, FR
VARIETY: Pinot Noir
VITICULTURE: Organic
"Forest floor, purple fruited, cerise. Tannins have finesse, silken almost when first opened. There’s a lovely line of freshness that rolls along, enticing you to keep coming back. Structured, the layers unfurl and the complexity gains. A shimmy of spice. The palate integrating with the tannin." - Liz Carey, importer
Renaud Boyer comes from a family of winemakers, but he is an anomaly in Burgundy. Located in Meursault with vineyards spread between Saint-Romain, Beaune and Puligny-Montrachet, he became a vigneron from a matter of opportunity. Trained as an engineer, in late 2001 he was offered the opportunity to take over the vineyards of his cousin, Thierry Guyot, in Saint Romain. These vineyards which were already being farmed in organics since 1986. In 2005 he took over his grandfather’s former cellar, a very simple cellar still to this day, and began work on the 5 hectares in Saint Romain and Puligny-Montrachet by hand and horse. In the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits, not many choose to work naturally. With land being so expensive they are risk adverse. But Renaud Boyer has no intention of adapting his wines or methods to the expectations of Burgundy. Surrounding oneself with like minded winemakers for council has been imperative, the two most influential over the past 15 years being Patrick Meyer and Pierre Overnoy. Renaud chose to focus on the vineyards, 90% of a wine is made in the vineyard. In Burgundy less than 10% of land is farmed in organics.
As you would expect, his work in the cellar is kept to a minimum. The whites are directly pressed, slowly over 6-7 hours. Pinot Noir is whole bunch macerated for approximately 3 weeks. There are no pump overs and only one pigeage is done at the end of maceration. Renaud is not looking for extraction or colour, instead choosing purity and favouring immediacy He works with gravity for transfer to barrel and now amphora, where the wine rests on lees. “The wines are their own selves…..Sometimes I bottle after 10 months, other times I might wait more than two years. There is no one way” Renaud will not release wine into the market unless he is happy and it has stability.