Domaine Felix / Burgundy

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We couldn’t not take on Domaine Félix really, though namesakes aside this estate, imported since 2015 has provided us with an increasingly rare paradigm of tasty, affordable, authentic estate-raised Burgundy.

 

The family traces winemaking lineage back to the late 1600s in the region, though the estate’s current form took root in 1981 under the impish Hervé Félix.  Holdings expanded from 11 to 31 hectares, covering various appellations of the Yonne department including Chablis and Petit Chablis, Irancy, Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre (the estate choosing to label Bourgogne for simplicity), and Saint-Bris.

Under Hervé, viticulture was taken to culture raisonée, a term we wish would gain more traction – essentially organic practice though reserving the right to use non-certifiable chemicals only in an emergency situation to save the crop which is of course infrequent.

Hervé’s son Olivier joined the domaine around 2016; trained as an engineer it’s been pleasing to watch his growth from almost reluctant secondee to a passionate and committed vigneron, his changes becoming more apparent in the wines as Hervé steps back towards retirement.  Wild ferments and a revision of oak practices (more stainless steel used in elevage) sees the wines looking tighter, fresher and more nuanced.  Olivier’s partner Elodie has stepped into a management role, and Olivier also serves as mayor of the winery’s locale Saint-Bris – suffice to say the domaine is in safe and forward thinking hands.

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  • Felix Chardonnay Felixir

    Domaine Félix Bourgogne Chardonnay 2022

     $ 52.00 incl. GST

    Wild fermented and as per the Petit, 100% stainless raised with several months on fine lees.

    Attractively light yellow/green in the glass, leaps forward with hay/straw, white and yellow flowers, fresh pastry, and just a little stony mineral.  Almonds, nougat, a lot more concentration than previous releases, the warmer vintage giving this suggesting more southern origins than Côte d’Auxerre.  Red apples, juicy nectarine, a lick of grapefruit, and a pillowy texture in the mouth; a pleasing step up for this producer.

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  • Domaine Félix Petit Chablis 2022

     $ 58.00 incl. GST

    Wild fermented and raised entirely in stainless.  We always preferred the estate’s Petit to the AC Chablis, nice when the cheaper wine is the fave.

    A softer expression of this wine for 2022 – aromatics and flavours of white peach, white flowers, grapefruit, lanolin and beeswax.  A lick of all-important oyster shell, its gentle acidity makes this an easy drinker on its own, and of course a fine companion for classic food matches.

  • Felix Pinot Felixir

    Domaine Felix Bourgogne Red 2022

     $ 68.00 incl. GST

    Fully destemmed, wild fermented in stainess and raised in predominantly seasoned French oak with a tiny proportion of new barrels.

    Cherries, cloves, forest berries, pencil shavings on the nose; brightness.  The palate is more direct and savoury, with graphite and a ferrous mineral component, strawberries, beetroots, hung meat, underpinned with tight, ripe and succulent tannins which will no doubt blossom with time in the glass or the cellar.

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