Peter Gierszewski may not have inherited land in Burgundy, but boy oh boy, does he know what he's doing. Having established Domaine de Thalie from nothing, it's fair to say this has become one of our favourite discoveries in recent history, particularly as despite the brilliance of his wines, he operates in what you would call the "value" end of this famous region.
Previously a chemistry student turned wine merchant, when the opportunity arose to delve headfirst into the world of farming and winemaking, there was no turning back. Following time spent making garage wines (c'mon, not a new style, you know what we mean!!), the domain was established in 2009. His stomping ground is the Mâconnais region of Burgundy. Home to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but also Gamay, where freshness is more harnessed compared with other parts of Burgundy. With time, the estate has expanded and now has 5.5 hectares of vines. A new winery was built in 2023.
Driven by a strong belief in maximising the best of the elements - aided by the principles of geobiology - Peter is a man with a passion for expressing different soils and grape varieties in order to create wines of distinction and freshness. This in itself can be considered unique to much of the wines produced from Burgundy. Buoyed by conversations with other well-known organic and biodynamic wineries, much has been learnt. There is a wildness to his vineyards, where nature clearly thrives. His vision and insistence on following biodynamic viticulture may be considered quirky or esoteric by some, but there can be no doubting the quality of his wines.
Peter's white wines are directly pressed with whole bunches, very slowly, to enable him to have very clear juice naturally. For his red wines, he used to destem some of the grapes, but has now moved closer and closer to all whole bunches, averaging around 80% whole bunches in his ferments. Combined with the influences from biodynamics, this really adds to the sense this is winemaking at its natural best.
Honestly, these are such good value Burgundy offerings. Do not let the low price points put you off. This is how wine should be. Truly thought-provoking, humble, accessible and downright delicious. Pleasure by the bucket load!!
