Gatinois

A fantastic producer in one of my favourite villages, Ay, creating superbly generous wines with lovely weight, tension and minerality.

Louis Cheval-Gatinois looks after 7 hectares of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Ay with 26 plots in total. With 6 hectares in Pinot Noir their style across the range is dominated by this weight with a lovely crisp mineral Chardonnay addition in all their cuvees.

I must admit that I am always drawn to producers who choose to do away with littering their range with superfluous cuvees, and for that I really admire Gatinois. All the wines in their range, all 4!, are fabulous. From the Brut tradition with it’s beautiful rose tinged gold colour and notes of cherry, apricot and strawberry through to the slightly more serious Reserve Brut, the weighty but supremely elegant rose and onto the superb Millesime with it’s noticeable increase in tension and incredible minerality, gained by that life-giving Chardonnay. You are left chewing on the Pinot well after you’ve finished the glass!

A great producer and one I enjoy regularly.