Sunday, February 2, 2025 white wine review is the latest Chardonnay in a line of recent excellent wines by Deux Roches, the Burgundy estate of Collovray & Terrier, that has come through the LCBO. This Mâcon-Villages arrived at the LCBO this weekend in the LCBO VINTAGES New Release Collection and is featured in the theme of the release which explores France's top wine regions.
The origins of Deux Roches begins in 1928, when Joanny Collovray settled in the small village of Davayé, in the south of Burgundy, a few kilometres west of Mâcon. On this land, Joanny made goat cheeses and farmed the land by growing crops, including grapevines. By 1940, Joanny was noted for the quality of his work. In 1956, he was succeeded by his son, Henri, who maintained the family's polyculture, but also expanded the family's vine holdings by purchasing a few parcels of land in the Mâcon-Davayé appellation. Henri's son, Christian Collovray, began working the vines at the age of 16 and devoted himself entirely to vine growing.
The Terrier family had no history of cultivating vines, but Léon Terrier was the village blacksmith and worked alongside local winegrowers. Jean-Luc Terrier, Léon's son, specialized in viticulture at an agricultural college and crossed paths along the way with his neighbour and childhood friend, Christian Collovray.
The two friends - Christian Collovray and Jean-Luc Terrier - shared a love and passion for vines and wine, and married two sisters - Brigitte and Florence - who came from a family of winegrowers. Bringing together two families, the two couples had a dream to create an estate and make wine together using Christian's and his father's vines. The dream became reality in 1986 with the formation of Deux Roches, which translates to "Two Rocks", and is named after the two limestone rocks of Vergisson and Solutré that are situated in the area of Davayé.
Today, there are six members of the Collovray & Terrier involved in the family business, including Julien Collovray, son of Christian and Brigitte, and his wife Caroline, and Pierre-Alexis Terrier, son of Florence and Jean-Luc. Situated in the heart of the Mâconnais wine region in Burgundy, with its soils rich in limestone, Deux Roches is renowned for producing high-quality Chardonnay wines. The philosophy at Deux Roches is to work the soil and respect the vegetation to produce good quality fruit. They aim for perfection by mastering each and every step with each passing vintage, while also adapting to the year's weather conditions. In 2017, with a commitment to the environment, Deux Roches earned their High Environmental Certification - the French certificate for environmental sustainability.
While the excellent 2021 Deux Roches Les Pommards Saint-Véran (and still available for purchase) is from their top-tier Parcel Selections range, this Tradition Mâcon-Villages is from their lower-tiered Timeless Collection - exemplary wines that are crafted for immediate pleasure, sharing, and enjoyment.
This 100% Chardonnay was grown in the Mâcon-Villages appellation of southern Burgundy. The cuvee is a blend of several plots which were selected for their limestone soil and drainage quality, as well as their early, southeast-facing exposure to the sun. This combination of soil and sun exposure characteristics allows Deux Roches to develop straightforward, fruity, lively, and fresh wines in the pure spirit of Mâconnais. After harvest, the grapes are gently loaded by gravity into pneumatic presses, where the grapes undergo slow and long presses in order to delicately extract the juices and preserve aromatic finesse. The musts are cooled and decanted, followed by a temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel tanks. The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation depending on the vintage. The wine remains in tanks for aging on its fine lees until spring. Inputs such as SO₂ are limited as much as possible throughout the entire process from picking to bottling.
The 2022 growing season in Mâconnais was marked by ample rain in June, including a big rainstorm at the end of the month, which helped slow down the physiological ripening of the grapes during the heat and dry weather of the summer months. The resilience of the vines, along with two weeks of dry and windy conditions that preceded harvest resulted in healthy grapes of good quality. Overall, it is a classic, juicy vintage with quantity. From an excellent vintage, let's see how this 2022 Chardonnay from Mâcon-Villages is tasting tonight...
100% Chardonnay. Lovely, medium-high to highly aromatic nose offers elegant ripe apple, pear, lemon citrus, and orchard fruit aromas, plus touches of doughy and leesy characters and hints of white peach, with an underlying stony minerality adding further complexity. The medium-full bodied palate is dry, concentrated, ripe, and honeyed with lovely apple-pear, orchard fruit, lemon citrus flavours accented with mild spice, vanilla, and white peach notes. It has clean, juicy acidity, somewhat creamy, and a fine, mineral texture on the mid-palate. Shows finesse, elegance, and balance throughout with spice and mineral notes lingering on the long, succulent finish. Best enjoyed over the next 3-5 years on its own, with goat cheese, fish, or poultry. Highly recommended buy! Score: 91+ pts
A couple of wines by Deux Roches are available at LCBO, while the full line-up can be ordered through their Agent - Profile Wine Group.
The origins of Deux Roches begins in 1928, when Joanny Collovray settled in the small village of Davayé, in the south of Burgundy, a few kilometres west of Mâcon. On this land, Joanny made goat cheeses and farmed the land by growing crops, including grapevines. By 1940, Joanny was noted for the quality of his work. In 1956, he was succeeded by his son, Henri, who maintained the family's polyculture, but also expanded the family's vine holdings by purchasing a few parcels of land in the Mâcon-Davayé appellation. Henri's son, Christian Collovray, began working the vines at the age of 16 and devoted himself entirely to vine growing.
The Terrier family had no history of cultivating vines, but Léon Terrier was the village blacksmith and worked alongside local winegrowers. Jean-Luc Terrier, Léon's son, specialized in viticulture at an agricultural college and crossed paths along the way with his neighbour and childhood friend, Christian Collovray.
The two friends - Christian Collovray and Jean-Luc Terrier - shared a love and passion for vines and wine, and married two sisters - Brigitte and Florence - who came from a family of winegrowers. Bringing together two families, the two couples had a dream to create an estate and make wine together using Christian's and his father's vines. The dream became reality in 1986 with the formation of Deux Roches, which translates to "Two Rocks", and is named after the two limestone rocks of Vergisson and Solutré that are situated in the area of Davayé.
Today, there are six members of the Collovray & Terrier involved in the family business, including Julien Collovray, son of Christian and Brigitte, and his wife Caroline, and Pierre-Alexis Terrier, son of Florence and Jean-Luc. Situated in the heart of the Mâconnais wine region in Burgundy, with its soils rich in limestone, Deux Roches is renowned for producing high-quality Chardonnay wines. The philosophy at Deux Roches is to work the soil and respect the vegetation to produce good quality fruit. They aim for perfection by mastering each and every step with each passing vintage, while also adapting to the year's weather conditions. In 2017, with a commitment to the environment, Deux Roches earned their High Environmental Certification - the French certificate for environmental sustainability.
While the excellent 2021 Deux Roches Les Pommards Saint-Véran (and still available for purchase) is from their top-tier Parcel Selections range, this Tradition Mâcon-Villages is from their lower-tiered Timeless Collection - exemplary wines that are crafted for immediate pleasure, sharing, and enjoyment.
This 100% Chardonnay was grown in the Mâcon-Villages appellation of southern Burgundy. The cuvee is a blend of several plots which were selected for their limestone soil and drainage quality, as well as their early, southeast-facing exposure to the sun. This combination of soil and sun exposure characteristics allows Deux Roches to develop straightforward, fruity, lively, and fresh wines in the pure spirit of Mâconnais. After harvest, the grapes are gently loaded by gravity into pneumatic presses, where the grapes undergo slow and long presses in order to delicately extract the juices and preserve aromatic finesse. The musts are cooled and decanted, followed by a temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel tanks. The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation depending on the vintage. The wine remains in tanks for aging on its fine lees until spring. Inputs such as SO₂ are limited as much as possible throughout the entire process from picking to bottling.
The 2022 growing season in Mâconnais was marked by ample rain in June, including a big rainstorm at the end of the month, which helped slow down the physiological ripening of the grapes during the heat and dry weather of the summer months. The resilience of the vines, along with two weeks of dry and windy conditions that preceded harvest resulted in healthy grapes of good quality. Overall, it is a classic, juicy vintage with quantity. From an excellent vintage, let's see how this 2022 Chardonnay from Mâcon-Villages is tasting tonight...
Tasting Note:
DEUX ROCHES TRADITION MÂCON-VILLAGES 2022 - AP, Burgundy, France (#38077) (XD) - $27.95100% Chardonnay. Lovely, medium-high to highly aromatic nose offers elegant ripe apple, pear, lemon citrus, and orchard fruit aromas, plus touches of doughy and leesy characters and hints of white peach, with an underlying stony minerality adding further complexity. The medium-full bodied palate is dry, concentrated, ripe, and honeyed with lovely apple-pear, orchard fruit, lemon citrus flavours accented with mild spice, vanilla, and white peach notes. It has clean, juicy acidity, somewhat creamy, and a fine, mineral texture on the mid-palate. Shows finesse, elegance, and balance throughout with spice and mineral notes lingering on the long, succulent finish. Best enjoyed over the next 3-5 years on its own, with goat cheese, fish, or poultry. Highly recommended buy! Score: 91+ pts
A couple of wines by Deux Roches are available at LCBO, while the full line-up can be ordered through their Agent - Profile Wine Group.
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