2011 Macon Pierre Clos Chavigne

The 2011 Macon-Pierreclos Le Chavigne sees 15% new oak. It has an attractive bouquet with almond and honeysuckle aromas plus hints of jasmine joining in with time. The palate is well-balanced with orange zest and apricot on the entry; a finely tuned acidity and a lovely build to a succulent apricot and quince finish. Superb. I have always thought of Jean-Marie Guffens in a similar way to Jean-Luc Thunevin, somebody driven to create top quality wines on their terms, and if a middle finger is stuck up against the establishment in the process, well, then that has to be the way. The French do not like having their feathers ruffled and worse still, loathe being found out wrong. And just as Jean-Luc legitimately questions the Saint Emilionais monomaniacal fixation upon terroir, so Jean-Marie stormed into Macon (and elsewhere), outraging everyone and fulminating with his outspoken, controversial and occasionally belittling views. And then the ultimate insult to his detractors, he was lauded by this publication and others. I met him a couple of times in London during his heyday when he was being carried aloft on a tide of scores that made his wines easy to sell. He was exactly as you may have read. I remember him holding court at a dinner organized by Farr Vintners – rubbishing the opposition if I recall correctly. He was ten times more entertaining than anyone else and the audience adored his wines. Since those halcyon days, Jean-Marie Guffens star has fallen and I noticed that even the Wine Advocate has not properly reviewed his wines for around a decade. I am not going to rehash the troubles with authorities in France that have plagued him, though I refer you to Evan Dawson’s outstanding interview in “Palate Press” that is both candid and at times, shocking. With all this background in mind, for me, the only way to approach Jean-Marie’s wines was to intermix them in the blind tasting that I conducted with the BIVB. No visits. No barrel tastings. Just rack ‘em against his peers and see how they stack up. And what was clear to me was that Jean-Marie continues to produce exquisite expressions of Maconnais wine that are perhaps due a re-evaluation for those that perhaps used to regularly buy both his domaine and negociant wines. Their leitmotif of intensity and power allied with elegance and poise was as evident here as it was back then, perhaps even more so. There were just one or two that felt a little overworked, as if desperate to reclaim the adulation that once poured down, but the others were simply exemplary. I am aware that one or two knowledgeable subscribers have remarked upon a high incidence of premature oxidation, and unfortunately that is not something that can be predicted when appraising wines blind. These reviews are just how I see them now and to be frank, they are so delicious that I would happily drink them within 12 to 24 months if premox were a concern. (See also “Verget” for his negociant line that is similarly recommended.) Importer: former agent Peter Vezan kindly e-mailed me and let me know that he handled the distribution up the 2008 vintage but that this relationship ceased thereafter. But they are available through Farr Vintners in the UK.