The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
Tapping into Burgundy’s next generation
Unearthing new talent isn’t easy in this exalted wine region, but Jason Haynes is a master at it
VICTORIA MOORE
dare I say it, deeply establishment marketplace and became the burgundy specialist no serious wine-head nor burgundy beginner can afford to ignore.
In just 12 years, Flint has built a trailblazing portfolio that mixes long-respected names such as Cathiard, Etienne Sauzet, Henri Gouges and Dujac with stars – such as Duroché and Georges Noellat – of its own making as well as growers in lesser appellations who are making high-quality wines without such high-rolling price tags. It isn’t easy to sign new talent in one of the world’s two most celebrated fine wine regions. Beane tapped into statistics to build his team. Haynes’ tools are graft and information – “he knows every tiny plot in Burgundy” says one competitor – and a razor-sharp palate. “When you taste with him he really thinks,” says another, “what he has achieved with Burgundy, reflecting the new generation, and the changes there, is nothing short of extraordinary.”
Haynes’ original life-plan was to become a sports journalist and by 17 he was writing match reports for his local paper, the Oxford Mail. After a degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Canterbury he fancied a life as a political lobbyist, “I thought I could change the world,” he says with a wry smile. Wine happened almost by accident. A university job in an Oddbins shop led to a role helping to set up the new Pont de la Tour restaurant with Robin Davies (now of Swig). After four years there he went for a sales job at wine merchant OW Loeb. “And I failed that interview. Then six months later they called and said, ‘Do you want to be the buyer?’” The interview included a blind tasting, I read the wine list beforehand and kind of figured they’d use their own wines so it
QUINTA DE LA ROSA BRANCO 2017 DOURO
Portugal
(12.5%, Booths, £11.50)
Douro whites don’t get the attention they deserve. Made from a rattlebag of local grapes (viosinho, rabigato, codega, gouveio) this is bright and refreshing, yellow plums with quince, and green herbs and a hint of salinity. Mouthwatering and lovely. went quite well.” As OW Loeb’s only wine buyer Haynes had found his métier. What drew him to Burgundy in particular? “It sounds pompous but I liked the intellectual approach – you’ve got your villages, your Crus – and I liked the way it all pieced together. You learnt a little bit, and that made you want to learn a bit more. The more you uncovered, the more you went on. It was addictive.”
On leaving OW Loeb to start his own business in “that short window when you have some experience but still have enough energy” the matter of which region to specialise in wasn’t even a question. The name came from co-founder Clarke’s dog, a Great Dane puppy. Clarke was a non-wine friend with a degree in philosophy and 10 years at Sporting Index under his belt. “As a team we had a fresher angle than some, and we didn’t have investors to answer to, so could take risks with new growers.”
Its fragmented nature and the large number of producers make Burgundy a difficult region for anyone to get to know. Specialist critics such as Allen Meadows, William Kelley, Jasper Morris and Neal Martin are guiding lights, but merchants also play a vital part in helping wine lovers to navigate and discover the place.
Flint initially based its business on selling to private clients; the arrival of former super-sommelier Gearoid Devaney as a director four years later was a clever move that drove sales to Devaney’s strong restaurant network which in turn meant that Haynes could hunt for more growers.
One key Flint signing is Domaine Duroché, a Gevrey-Chambertin producer that had no exporters when Haynes first picked up the 2008 vintage. “What we liked about the wines initially was their purity. If you’re making wines that are pure you can add concentration later – but it’s unlikely you’re going to go the other way if you’re making big, burly powerful wines.” Haynes says that the trust between himself and Clarke was essential to their success. “I knew Sam would sell the wines and he was happy to sell them because he knew I rated them. Now the whole world wants to buy Duroché.”
A combination of stratospheric land prices in Burgundy and climate change has also opened up new opportunities at the right time. The quality of the best wines from lesserknown and lowly appellations has never been better.
“If you’re a young winemaker and you’ve got Rully or Marsannay you’re now just saying, ‘OK, well, we either really make the best of this or we continue as everyday farmers. We’re never going to be able to afford Lavaux St Jacques so let’s make the best Marsannay we can.’ It has concentrated ambition in these areas. And certainly all those appellations where it was borderline warm enough – such as Auxey-Duresses, HautesCôtes de Nuits, St-Romain – they’re having an amazing two or three years. Suddenly the wines are ripe and they’re still kind of the same price.”
Haynes is fully immersed in Burgundy. He has a family network there – he is married to Aurelia, the daughter Henri Gouges. He spends two and a half months in the region every year but says that’s not enough. “The window for finding and signing up new producers is getting smaller. We signed up Amélie Berthaut in Fixin before she had even released her first solo vintage – months later Neal Martin wrote a glowing piece about her, so we were only just in time.”
Flint has continued to grow, adding a retail arm and website (Stannary St Wine Co). It also opened a restaurant, Cabotte, in the City of London, a joint venture with 12 burgundy growers and various investors. I wholeheartedly recommend this as an introduction to burgundy, and indeed to Flint. If you’re buying wines, you need to get in the queue – about half of the newly released burgundy 2017 was already spoken for on allocation. But it’s worth dipping a toe in the water with, say, Rully from Jean-Baptiste Ponsot or Domaine Henri Magnien, one of this year’s new growers (see stannarywine.com).