Curzilles, a terroir,a �ne wine

10/02/2019 by Ellen Wallace — Leave a Comment

Vertical tasting of 7 vintages, CaveLa Colombe

It’s probably safe to say almost no one beyonda handful of wine industry professionalsreally masters the appellation and namingsystem for Swiss wines. �is is in any eventchanging soon, so don’t be surprised if I say Idrank a really good wine called Curzilles forseveral vintages before I realized this is thename of a lieu-dit (cadastral designation) incanton Vaud. I’ve driven by it for years andhad noticed grapes growing; we once adopteda kitten from a house across the road. If thiswere Burgundy, there would be a sign. Butthis is humble, self-e�acing Switzerland sovineyards are just vineyards, until you knowwhat you’re looking at.

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Curzilles, 7 vintages of this white blend from La Colombe in Féchy,by Raymond Paccot.

�e wine I drank, and will happily continueto drink is Curzilles by Raymond Paccot atLa Colombe winery in Féchy village. It is awhite blend whose two most importantgrapes are Chasselas and Pinot Gris. Doraland Riesling are also part of the mix and inthe �rst year Savagnin was included.

�e winery invited anyone interested to joinin a cozy evening with a small group for avertical tasting of 7 vintages. We were givenone instruction at the outset: “You’re here totaste terroir, to see how the wine evolves.”

Paccot’s wines are remarkable for the hand ofthe winemaker – not because he is heavy-handed, �uite the opposite. His wines areconsistently very good, interesting, withprecision (even complex blends have a tightweave) as a hallmark, and terroir is clearly atthe heart of them. So how does one forgetabout this well-known Swiss winemaking

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name in order to go about looking for theterroir?

Let me �rst take you through the wines weshared, and then we can come back to theterroir, the lieu-dit itself, and how rules andregulations and research may all play a role inour understanding of terroir.

The wines, according to Ellen

My very rough and brief initial notes on these7 vintages run something like this, with *indicating I thought it was a winner. I hadjust driven from the St Joseph wine region inFrance where I had been tasting Syrah winesfor 2 days, so a change of gears was in order. A�er a refreshing little hello glass fromViolaine Paccot, who explains that daughterLaura – newly taking on responsibility for thevineyards – is home tending a sick baby, I sitdown to focus on Curzilles, served in order ofyoungest to oldest.

Raymond Paccot andguests, Curzilles vertical

tasting January 2019

Seeking terroir and itsimpact on the evolution

of Curzilles wines, 7vintages

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2016* fresh and acidic, crisp, pears andcitrus nose2015* perfumed nose and continues inmouth, good balance – pears, and a hintof linden blossom with ?? fresh bread?hint of petrol?2014, caramel, butter on the nose,surprising because I associate this withoaked wines and no wood is used; secondbottle only slightly better2013 hmmm, unsure if I like it (laternote: coming back to it, I appreciate itmore)2012 dry and crisp, hints of mineral,somewhere between a young wine andone that is moving into its third phase[�rst is on the fruit, second has notes ofthe winemaking process and maturing,while third is notes linked to ageing]2011* woohoo! we’ve turned a page here –pear, �oral and maybe white peaches,more complex nose and very looooong�nish2010* gold colour – a wow! nose,de�nitely tertiary aromas starting toappear – honey, toast, but woventhrough with citrus, almonds, linden�owers. �e mouth is remarkably freshfor an 10-year-old wine.

The wines according to Paccot andothers

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Raymond and Violaine Paccot begin to sharedetails about what’s the same, what’sdi�erent, in the way Curzilles is made, yearin, year out. We keep sipping, spitting,re�ecting, listening, commenting, arguing abit. I’ve met a couple of these peoplepreviously, ardent wine amateurs, plus DennisLapuyade, who is the other serious Swiss winewriter in English. Noé Christinat is also at mytable, a young winemaker from Ollon who asa student at Changins was a member of thethird-place team in a very high-levelinternational dégustation competition heldby EHL (Lausanne’s hotel school). He spentsome of his student training time working atthe Paccot family winery, so his �uestions andremarks are focusing and informed.

2017, says Paccot was “the latest harvest we’vehad, 17 October.” �ere’s a three weekvariation in harvest times, he points out.Wait, is that the variation over the years orfor the grapes that go into this particularwine? �e grapes are harvested together, heexplains. Riesling, one of the grapes, “can belater” to mature, which complicates things. A crucial feature of this wine is that thegrapes are complanted, which means thegrape varieties are not neatly separated, butgrown together and harvested together, alsoknown as �eld blends. �is is a process widelyused historically, before tanks for blendingbecame a�ordable, but it’s an unusual feature

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in Swiss vineyards in the 20th and 21stcenturies. Not all grapes are harvested at the same time;the classic wisdom is that there are threeperiods for ripening and all grapes fall intoone of these three. Did you know thatChasselas, whose birthplace was probablycanton Vaud, certainly the Lake Genevaregion, is the grape whose ripening time isused as the basis to compare all other graperipening periods in the world?

We’re back to winemaking details for eachvintage. �e 2016, says Paccot, was not�ltered, only the second year like this.Curzilles is bottled about a year a�er grapesare harvested. I mentally compare this to themainstream Swiss whites and most Chasselasthat are bottled in spring or summer, readyfor thirsty markets. A year is a long time for anon-oaked white wine to mature, inSwitzerland.

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Several vintages of Curzilles, La Colombe’s white blend from thisFéchy lieu-dit

Another detail: all of these wines have beenmade in concrete e�s (nice explanationabout these here) since the start in 2010.About 10 years ago I visited DomaineBalisiers in Geneva with the Mémoire desVins Suisses group of Swiss wine producers,their annual educational outing. �eproducers were keen to see the cellar’s workwith concrete e�s, as Balisiers was one of theearliest in the country to use these to maturewines. Raymond Paccot was in the group andhe sparked some lively discussions. Little didI know I’d be seeing the concrete (!) result ofthose re�ections now, his Curzilles collection.

Here’s how they di�er

We move on to 2015. High alcohol, 14-15%,and I can remember the sun that provoked it.�e petrol aroma, subtle, could be from theRiesling, we hear. We might �nd the same inthe 2017 and 2018 vintages, also “rather rich”wines. A �uestion is raised about whethergrapes were lost to the suzukii fruit �yattacks in 2014 and 2015, given La Colombe’sorganic approach. Today the entire winery isbiodynamic. “We never lost any grapes,” saysPaccot. “We treated fre�uently but in tiny�uantities.”

�e 2014, we agree, is oxidized, sadly – theinitial buttery aromas I smelled have

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�attened right out. �e 2013 was the smallestharvest, says the winemaker, with 2011 aboutthe same, and these two were the lowest inalcohol. �e 2013 is described by its creator asmineral, crunchy and he says it was a “niceyear”. I am less keen on this wine, but try itagain and like it better. Some of my tablemates think it is very good; I won’t go thatfar.

In 2012 there was no Riesling in the blend andthe wine was le� in the e�s until June beforebottling. We learn that in 2013 it was also le�until June but that in 2014 it was May;sometimes the e� lets the wine breathe toomuch and it can’t be le� as long.

�e 2011 was harvested early and 2/3 of thewine was allowed MLF, or malolacticfermentation (for more on MLF, read here).�is is the only vintage where the wine had a“tiny” passage in wood. It was a thinner,cooler year.

Here we are, 2010: my favourite, and the onethat makes me believe this is a wine that isgreat very young, and great once it has aged.�is was a big year, says Paccot. Acidity washigh, at pH 3.6 (more on acidity in wines,here). A spicy wine with a wonderfully long�nish.

And the terroir?

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Now I’m le� pondering the terroir, the sharedelement or commonality of these wines thatcome from the same place. How has itcontributed to the way they evolve, age. �e commune of Féchy “is home to 177hectares of vineyards, of which 70 have beenlisted in the inventory of landscapes andnatural sites of national importance since1971,” according to the commune’s web site.Féchy has its own Grand Cru, and inaddition, it is a “Vignoble classé”, or listedvineyard.

“�e indication “Féchy VignobleClassé” is reserved for wines bearingthe Grand Cru label from the Féchyproduction area as well as theindication of the cadastraldesignation and made from grapesharvested within the Féchyproduction area.”

Féchy wines web site

�ere are regulations covering the use ofthese on a label – and one of them is thatonly Chasselas �uali�es.A blend likeCurzilles, no matter how good it is, won’thave either of these on its label.

“

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Curzilles in orange, to the le� of the town of Aubonne; Féchy isbelow and to the right of the legend, in a red band (source:

cantonal “climate” study 2002-03 of all vineyards.

Speci�cally, Curzilles is the slope on the rightas you leave the town of Aubonne headingdownhill towards Féchy. Soil studies done inthe past two decades show that Curzilles hasa small patch of rough, sandy soil (good forcreamier wine texture) but it is mostlycalcareous soil with compact limestone base,where roots spread easily. �e study done forFéchy notes that “�is type of soil gives winesa �inty mineral character and a powderytexture in the mouth.” Two small sections at the edges of the lieu-dithave non-calcareous soil where roots do notspread easily: “�is type of soil gives wines acertain mineral character, tighter and moreconcentrated. Certain plots grow complexand elegant Chasselas.” In other words, it’s a great place for

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Chasselas, but some parts of Curzilles are alsosuited well to other white wines. �e historyof en Curzilles (the place) and the Paccots isone of vines that they reorganized and insome cases replaced, starting in 2002 and�nishing in 2010 – starting about the time thecanton began its studies to understand whichsoils and locations were best matched withwhich grapes. �e Paccots increased theirPinot Gris here and, most importantly,complanted their various whites so they sharethe same soil, are picked at the same time,and fermented together. It is a blend only inthe sense that there is more than one grapevariety in the wine. La Colombe’s Curzilles, all the vintages wetasted, are clearly marked by the limestonesoil. �e winery describes these wines as full-bodied and fresh, and the tasting backed thatup. We found, pretty much without fail,aromas of pear, almond, fresh bread (orbaker’s yeast) and citrus fruits. In mouth,there is always a noticeable and pleasingtexture. I was intrigued to read, on the Féchy winesweb site, that

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White blend 2009 from La Colombe in Féchy, Vaud, by RaymondPaccot

Pebbles rolled by glaciers areinteresting for their mineraldiversity that gives wines varied andoriginal “mouth touches”. Indeed,many pebbles come from schist andgranite massifs in the Alps, but alsofrom the calcareous hills of the Jura.Furthermore, these moraines cameto accumulate on the marine andlake tertiary molasse, which iscalcareous. �is geological mixtureof the Alpine arc is only found inone other vineyard, that of Savoie.

“

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Vins Féchy

Raymond Paccot’s grandfather Jules was aseasonal worker from Savoie who bought landin Féchy; perhaps he felt right at home withthe soil, and for a man who grows grapes, thatis no small thing.

He would have been astonished to take thisbird’s eye �ight over the Féchy cadastralareas, which make it easier for those of uswho buy wines with these names to knowwhere the grapes are grown. Be sure to checkit out, and move your cursor!

Also read:

Dennis Lapuyade published his reportand more in-depth notes on the Curzillesvertical tasting on his English languagesite, Artisanswiss.Terre Nature carried a long interview(Fr) in 2017 with the Bourguignons, whohave done studies on a large number ofSwiss wine climates and soils, includingthose of Féchy.I tasted another Curzilles, a Chasselassingle grape wine from the Rossierfamily in Lavigny, last week – their lastbottle, I believe – and was enchanted to�nd again notes of linden blossom andalmonds, a clear freshness in mouth anda minerality that isn’t always found withLa Côte region Chasselas wines.

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Curzilles from the Rossier family, aclassic made in tank Chasselas, served

with a saucisse de Vaud, terroir times 2!

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Filed Under: Wineries

Ta�ed With: Bourguignons, Chasselas,Curzilles, Doral, Féchy, La Colombe, LauraPaccot, Pinot Gris, Raymond and Violaine Paccot,Riesling, Rossier, Swiss Grand Cru, the landscapeof Swiss wine, Vaud grape variety research, Vaudlieux-dits

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