The ancient Clos des Vignes du Maynes in Southern Burgundy, presently steered by Julien Guillot, was among the first domaines we represented when Percy opened in 2012. A decade ago, the wines were not easy to sell. In Burgundy, Julien was regarded as a heretical, cow-horn-burying agro-terrorist. In the States, Vignes du Maynes was so far ahead of the natural wine boom that the wines were sui generis and difficult to comprehend. 

A decade later, Vignes du Maynes is regarded by many of our clients as buttoned-up and classical, an amusing turn of perspective that shows both how the world has changed and how Julien has not. Digging back through our notes and write-ups from over the years, I found this passage from my old comrade Griffin Snyder, which still rings true: 

“For me, what gives this Domaine staying power is that it is self-referential. Natural winemaking may bring some producers fleeting popularity, but for Julien Guillot it communicates a deep and personal sense of practice and responsibility. Here, attention is paid not only to the life of the vine in a given place, but how life at large has been sustained over the course of 1,100 years ‐ a conception of winemaking that is centered on stewardship, not mere maintenance. That said, what keeps these wines fresh is not nostalgia for the past, but rather a dialectical form of practice that engages with the past on the terms of the present and the future.”  - Josh Eubank (the importer)

Gamay Petit Grain, planted in 1953. Manganite takes its name from the manganese-rich limestone soils to which it is planted, giving the wine a distinctive, iron-like acidity. 18 months élevage in barrel. This wine is not to be missed.