Thierry Richoux

Thierry Richoux
Thierry Richoux
Richoux

Photography and writing by Ted Vance.

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Once in a great while you stumble on a hidden gem, even one that has been in plain sight for decades. The first time I tasted a wine made by Thierry Richoux was out of a small, thick-rimmed glass that could only hold about five ounces of wine, if it were completely full. It was a bottle that was brought to dinner by our Chablis producer, Gilles Collet. I can still smell, taste and feel that first moment with Thierry’s 2008 Irancy. To my surprise, he didn’t have an importer in the States yet.

My first meeting with Thierry was one of my most eye-opening experiences. He is a gentle, thin and soft-spoken man with amazingly powerful hands that look like they could crush you with very little effort. Like Thierry, his wines are full of surprises and achieve a level of purity and authenticity that is rare to find, even in Burgundy. I have tasted nearly every red wine he has made going back to the late 80s, and with each wine, a new world opens up. He is without a doubt one of the greatest achievers in our collection and one that I cherish as much as any producer I work with.

This gorgeous village of Irancy is tucked in at the bottom of a very small amphitheater about 20 minutes from the center of Chablis. It shares the same basic geology as Chablis: Portlandian limestone on the upper sections and Kimmerigean limestone inside of the sloped areas. However, this is not a place that makes Chardonnay, it is home to one of the furthest north places in France that makes still wine from Pinot Noir. Irancy has found its special climate for Pinot Noir because of its horseshoe shape that faces south, west and north. The Pinot Noir from the north face is often used for cremant or rosé because it has a more difficult time ripening. The wines from this place can be extremely rustic impressions of Burgundy, something you could imagine something from the Côte d’Or during the 12th century. There is also another red grape here, César, which accentuates the rusticity. However, you will find none of that grape variety in the cellar of Thierry Richoux. -TV

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Richoux Irancy

Thierry Richoux - 2019 Irancy, Rouge

Price: $41.00
Size: 750ml
Availability: 

Out of stock

Type of Wine: Red
Grape(s): 100% Pinot Noir
Style: Mineral, Rustic, Elegant and Aromatic
SKU: TRIR19 Category: Tags: , , , Click to see what states we ship to
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GROWER OVERVIEW

Thierry Richoux and his sons, Gavin and Félix, craft impressive age-worthy wines southwest of Chablis, in Irancy, an appellation specializing in Pinot Noir. Sharing the same basic geology as Chablis, Irancy’s small amphitheater faces all directions but east, and includes a slope on the outside of the U, on the south hill that faces south and west—home to the lieux-dits, Veaupessiot and Palotte. Their organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards on a variety of aspects on mostly steep slopes are composed of limestone marl and clay. All grapes for red wines are hand-harvested, vinified with native yeasts, (sometimes with stems) and aged in a mix of 500l barrels, 40hl-55hl foudres and steel vats. In addition to their range of Irancy reds, they also produce a méthode Champenoise sparkling and a Rosé from Pinot Noir.

VINEYARD DETAILS

Richoux’s Irancy is 100% Pinot Noir from many different parcels with an average age of 35-40 years (2023) on a medium to steep slopes with a southeast/south/west exposures at 180-280m on limestone marl bedrock and brown clay topsoil.

CELLAR NOTES

The 2019 Irancy was destemmed and naturally fermented in steel vats with one pumpover per day for 15-18 days. After pressing, it settled for one month, then was racked into 228-liter barrels (10% new), where it aged unmoved for 14 months, followed by 12 months in steel. It is without added sulfites until bottling.

About The Wine

Like the rest of the range of his Pinot Noir based wines, this wine shows the consistent nuances of orange peel, aperol, persimmon and griotte. Getting into the reds, you find more rose and red flowers with a strong forest characteristic. When drunk too young or too quickly, the wine may show stern tannins but with a little time, the magic unfolds rewarding the patient drinker becoming integrated and precise. The aromatic profile is noble but still maintains the uniqueness of its appellation and the mastery of Thierry’s craft. It’s beautiful when young but can age effortlessly for well over 20 years, a statement I’m comfortable to say with confidence because I have tasted nearly every wine back to the early 80’s and they all age incredibly well, even the so-called “off vintages.”

Richoux’s favors taking extra time before the release of his wines, sometimes more than two years after the producers in the Côte d’Or. His wines wines are moved only a couple of times and spend their time in concrete and large foudre (55hl) for two years before bottling, preserving the delicate aromas that need some extra time to come back to form after the bottling. It can take some years for the full recovery; Thierry is in no rush to push them out the door.

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