Terroir Insight: Cécile Tremblay Vosne-Romanee Les Beaumonts

Beaumonts; Beaux Monts; Beauxmonts – whatever the spelling, the name means delightful pinot with many variations. It is a large vineyard covering the slope above Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots towards Flagey-Echezeaux.

Cecile Tremblay has a lovely plot in the centre of the vineyard with old vines, and it is worth a study. Indeed!

Frankly, I am finding more and more detail and pleasure in Cécile Tremblay’s wines. They offer forward drinkability, yet at the same time are real, substantial wines with intensity and structure. The organic feel of their mid-palate fruit is truly delightful.

This is not a universal opinion, however, as others are less susceptible to the charms of the Tremblay wines. Some tasters find a lack of definition – or precision – to the fruit, and for example find the 2018s a bit on the weighty, ripe side.

While I can understand this argument, I take a stronger stance for the hedonistic element and give the wines some leniency. In the end, above all I just want to find pleasure.

So while Echezeaux and Chapelle-Chambertin are her signature wines, Cécile’s Vosne-Romanee Beaumonts is certainly one of the more sensual wines of the line-up. It can be a hedonistic treat when it fully reveals itself.

Let’s go to Beaumonts!

Cécile Tremblay’s vineyards

Cécile Tremblay began her endeavour in 2002-03 as she took over some of her family’s vineyards and started producing wine.

The vineyards originally come from the Edouard Jayer estate. Edouard, Henri Jayer’s uncle, was a cooper in Nuits-Saint-Georges before World War I, and Cécile’s great-grandfather. In 1921, he married Esther Fournier, who came from a vigneron family, and they established their estate based on vineyards from her inheritance, gradually expanding the portfolio over the years.

In 1950, the vineyards were shared amongst their five children. Renée – the youngest daughter – kept her vineyards and rented them out in metayage (share-cropping). Her only daughter, Marie Annick, and her husband continued to expand the estate, while keeping it under metayage until 2002.

After her studies, their daughter Cécile decided to take over her parents’ vineyards, and this was the birth of the delightful Domaine Cécile Tremblay at the beginning of 2003.

As mentioned, the vineyards prior to 2003 were rented out to other growers. Cécile was able to take back 3 ha at the beginning, and will eventually take back more as the leases expire.

One of her original vineyards was Vosne-Romanee Les Beaumonts, a delightful terroir at least partly elevated over the village on the border to Flagey-Echezeaux.

Les Beaumonts (or Les Beaux Monts; both can be used) is the name on the excellent 1er cru from Domaine Cecile Tremblay.

Vosne-Romanée Les Beaumonts

Les Beaumonts is the located on the border between Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Echezeaux, and is the second largest 1er cru in the village, covering 11.39 hectares.

The Beaumonts vineyard is divided between the two villages, but as there are no 1er crus in Flagey-Echezeaux, the appellation itself is a Vosne-Romanée 1er cru.

Les Beaux Monts: Four sections – village, 1er, and grand cru

Vosne-Romanee Les Beaux Monts (note the spelling change; see below) is located north of Richebourg and Aux Brulees, above Les Suchots and Echezeaux. It is divided into four sections: Vosne-Romanee Les Beaux Monts, Vosne Romanee Les Hauts de Beaux Monts, Flagey-Echezeaux Les Beaux Monts Hauts, and Flagey Echezeaux Les Beaux Monts Bas.

(It should be noted that some use the spelling Les Beaumonts instead of Les Beaux Monts. But the official cadastre uses the spellings above for the four sections of the vineyard.)

The top of the vineyard is classified as village in some parts, while the main section is classified as 1er cru, and the bottom of Flagey-Echezeaux Beaux Monts Bas is classified as grand cru, part of Echezeaux.

The map below shows the 1er cru section of Les Beaux Monts. The large Leroy holding is outlined in red, with the rest of the 1er cru bordered in white. Cécile Tremblay’s plot is indicated with a green outline.

The top part of the vineyard (Les Hauts de Beaux Monts) has the lightest soils, whereas the top-end wines from this appellation come from Les Beaux Monts Bas, which gives potentially bigger, fuller wines. The top 2.37 ha of Les Hauts de Beaux Monts are classified as village, including the Beaux Monts Hauts Rougeots located in the Flagey end. More on the structure of Beaux Monts in a separate article.

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