Mark Haisma, Aussie ex-pat Burgundy micro-negoce showed his new releases yesterday. Here are my notes. As usual, please treat these scores as a very approximate indication of how much I liked the wines: they are baby wines and it’s hard to be precise at this early stage. He’s expanded his range to take in some new, promising sites in the northern Rhone that are being bottled as Vin de France. These are from highly promising terroirs that fall outside famous appellations. ‘Finding enough fruit in Burgundy is driving me crazy,’ he says. As usual, the way to buy these wines is direct from Mark, and his website gives instructions.
Mark Haisma Aligote 2014 Burgundy, France
Concentrated and lively, this has really lovely acidity and nice flavours of lemons and nuts. Half tank, half barrel. This over-delivers. 91/00
Mark Haisma Saint-Romain Le Jarron 2014 Burgundy, France
Lively pear and white peach with a bit of apple character. Lemony finish. Lovely weight to this wine. 91/100
Mark Haisma Saint-Romain Combe Bazin 2014 Burgundy, France
Lively and appley. Open and ripe with some breadth. Lovely weight with some spicy notes, and nice freshness. Delicious. 92/100
Mark Haisma Santenay Saint-Jean 2014 Burgundy, France
Nice tension here. There’s citrus, a bit of spice and some ripe apple. Lively stuff. 93/100
Mark Haisma Viognier 2015 Vin de France
New for this year, a northern Rhone Viognier. Four barrels made. Floral, nutty and textural with nice pear and apple fruit, and some fennel, too. Focused and textural, this shows a lot of promise. 91/100
Mark Haisma Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2014 Burgundy, France
From old vineyards in Chambolle and Volnay. Pure and supple with lovely fresh red cherry and plum fruit. Wood sticks out a bit at the moment but this should settle. Fresh and sappy. 90/100
Mark Haisma Volnay 2014 Burgundy, France
Supple with lovely fresh cherries and nice spiciness. Very pretty wine but it’s a bit angular too at this early stage with some grip. No whole bunch. 92/100
Mark Haisma Gevrey Chambertin 2014 Burgundy, France
50% whole bunch. Juicy with nice grip, and powerful cherry, raspberry fruit. Quite angular and grippy, but with lovely focus to the fruit. Direct. 93/100
Mark Haisma Nuits St Georges 2014 Burgundy, France
No whole bunch. Rounded and supple with sweet cherry and plum fruit. Smooth sweet fruit here with nice density. 93/100
Mark Haisma Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru Chaffots 2014 Burgundy, France
75% whole bunch. Superbly textured with bright sweet fruit dominating: cherries, raspberries. Lovely juiciness at this early stage. Nice structure and acidity here. Lovely wine. 94/100
Mark Haisma Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Avelets 2014 Burgundy, France
This is NV6 clone, which isn’t highly regarded, but it’s older vines. Mark was careful not to extract too much, and the result is a lovely elegant expression of Pommard. Fresh, exuberant cherry fruit with brightness and good acidity. Pure and quite elegant – not what you’d expect from Pommard. 94/100
Mark Haisma Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2014 Burgundy, France
There’s something special about the texture of this wine. Smooth with lovely structure and purity. Very textural with fine red cherries and plums. 95/100
Mark Haisma Cornas 2014 Northern Rhone, France
Lively and juicy with nice fresh peppery red fruits, and some black cherry. Grippy with nice fruit and freshness. Pure and very attractive. 93/100