Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini
A young and promising Bourguignon vineyard !
Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini is a young Burgundian property and more precisely from Gevrey. Founded in 2012 by two passionate winegrowers, it currently covers 5.5 hectares of vines, mainly located around Gevrey-Chambertin. However, they also have some vines in Morey-Saint-Denis and in Chambolle-Mussigny.
I must admit that I discovered this vineyard a bit by accident last year when I stopped because the door was open. Stroke of heart I decided today to take you to meet this couple that wine enthusiasts have to know. Let’s go together to meet Florence and Simon Mazzini.
Where does the name Heresztyn-Mazzini come from ? Simon Mazzini: Heresztyn is the female surname. When my wife’s grandparents arrived from Poland after the war, they settled in Chambolle-Mussigny. Then the context was not very good they left to settle in Gevrey. They worked for other local winegrowers for a long time before creating their own domain. Actually it did not happen suddenly but gradually they brought vineyard tips to the home which currently houses the cellar. At the time it was still possible to find vines to buy and above all at a reasonable price. It was often made elsewhere in PMU corner. At the time of the succession we took over a large part of the vineyard. As far as Mazzini is concerned, this is my last name. Even if my family is from Champagne, it is originally from Italy. My ancestors had immigrated from Italy to Champagne to find work there. They also started working for other houses and acquired some vines. After college I went to Beaune to study and then I worked in Mâcon and abroad. This is where I met Florence. In the year 2000 we started by working together on the domain but we quickly wanted not to work for the others but for us, to have our own domain. We started to work on the family Domain (2000) but was quickly felt like work only for us to have our own domain. We learned a lot by working for the family but in 2011 we said that we had to set up our own structure, my stepfather retiring. We went from 9 hectares to 5 ½ hectares. From a qualitative point of view, we were not all interested and we could not financially take everything back either.
How do you manage the vineyard ?
S.M.: We have always paid attention to the life of our soils but we applied for certification on part of the Domain only in 2016. The 2019 vintage will therefore be our first year labeled Organic Agriculture for some of our wines. Why in two stages ? Because our Gevrey vineyard is mainly divided into two zones, a part below the national (2.5 hectares) and another part above (3 hectares). The upper part is a little more confronted with the risk of powdery mildew but it is managed well with copper. The vineyard located below the national road is mainly affected by downy mildew… a more complicated problem to manage in AB. However, here too, we have learned a lot from the last few years, so we have launched a labeling process on this part too. In 2021 we will therefore be certified on the whole property.
Organic farming in some ways is good but not enough. It’s the same for biodynamics is why this year we have started to use green manure (rye, oats, canola, clover Persian…). For example, we sow after the harvest to provide nitrogen, potash and magnesium in a natural way. We also stopped weeding but we are mowing. The idea is to no longer work the soil, that it decompresses naturally. It allows us to find a life of the soil, that nature naturally balances. The objective is to no longer bring anything from the outside but that the vine finds alone and naturally in the ground all that it needs.
In 2017, we decided to experiment another naturel way like « herbal medicine » for vineyards, then later in 2019, for the soils. We used a lots plants (nettle, horsetail, comfrey,…).
Also most of our plots are planted in mass selection, our youngest vines are 45 years old. Finally with the exception of a micro-plot of 6 acres which is two years old. It was also replanted in mass selection (from our old vines) for half in high density and pruned in double Guyot and the other half in ‘classic’ density and pruned in Poussard . The idea is to be able to see what works best in 15 or 20 years.
What is the signature of HeresztynMazzini wines ?
S.M.: I would say the femininity of our wines. Pinot Noir remains a delicate, supple grape, with of course nuances to bring depending on the vintages and expressions / terroirs. When I speak of femininity I mean that these are very airy wines, very fruity, with great finesse and a nice length in the mouth. It’s difficult for us to talk about it, but this is the return that we have from different tastings of professionals or amateurs that we are witnessing.
I think that making the whole harvest has a lot to do with this signature. We started making the whole harvest from 2007. We started from a simple observation, all the big names in Burgundy in the background, there must be a reason. We have very beautiful terroirs and old vines so it was only natural that we thought we should try. In 2008 the high test result on the previous vintage and despite the fact that AC was a pretty cool year, with high acidity was decided to generalize the entire harvest of all our tanks.
What I also really like in this practice is the effect on the finals. We no longer have bitterness or astringency but a small grain of tannins, very present but which will age over time. I would like to point out that we want tannins from the vine, from the terroir, so tannins naturally present in wine and not those from aging.
What do you like about this job ?
S.M.: I couldn’t have a job that forces me to stay locked up between four walls. What I like in the winegrower’s profession is that we actually do three jobs : peasant (working the land), craftsman (we transform the fruit at the end) and trader. We touch everything. We have to be very versatile. There is also a great cultural aspect because talking about wine is talking about gastronomy, French culture and history. We touch terroirs that have been known and recognized for their exceptions for centuries
Describe in a few words what wine means to you ?
I would say : Passion, Sharing, festive, family and fun. It’s just fun !
• Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini 27 Rue Richebourg, 21220 Gevrey-Chambertin (France) www.heresztyn-mazzini.com