- Herald Tribune International 16/11/2007
When Talent ennobles Terroir, by Jacqueline Friedrich
Chablis comes to mind when you taste Maria Cuny’s 2006 Bourgogne-Vézelay. It’s chardonnay but so distinctive you forget about fruit in favor of terroir. It’s a racy, ethereal wine with a stinging freshness and a rush of mineral and herbal tea flavors. Working as a shepherdess for Société Roquefort, Maria was sent to apprentice with a shepherd named Yves Cuny. They married, and six children later the couple decided to return to his childhood home near Vézelay. In 2000 they bought a small vineyard in the shadow of the town’s basilica, part of the Unesco World Heritage site. Decimated by phylloxera, Vézelay’s slopes were abandoned for roughly a century until a local group replanted them. This year marks the 10th anniversary of AOC Bourgogne-Vézelay status for chardonnay-based whites. Maria Cuny’s wines prove that Vézelay is a Burgundian cru to be reckoned with.
Jacqueline Friedrich is the author ‘‘The Wines of France: The Essential Guide for Savvy Shoppers. ’’
Yonne Républicaine Februray 01
"Maria Cuny, mother and wine grower… Sitting in front of a cup of coffee, Maria Cuny contemplates the view that spreads itself before her from her kitchen window. On the horizon, the basilica, drowned in a veil of sunlight, separates itself from the summit of the hill …. This countryside and the trade of winegrower were chosen by her and her greatest desire is to share them both… “My parents wanted me to follow a literary path ”explains our lady from Normandy. “But my fibre, it was the earth..” She tells Yves, her husband, a sheep farmer in the Aveyron …. Behind the allure of a slightly timid lady, we discover a formidable determination. At thirty years of age, she goes back to her studies and successively takes numerous exams, gaining agricultural, tourism and a combined agricultural and viticulture oenology certificates … the family Cuny bought an old wine growers house, built in 1810. Maria and her husband set up their wine business… when it rains and working the vines becomes difficult, Maria turns towards the Eternal Hill and pulls her energy from it."
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L'été à Véselay
François Brochet
www.ete-a-vezelay.com |
- Yonne Républicaine 09/19/01
"Working on the right paht… This Saturday, September 15th, for the inauguration of the winery, Jacques Lauvergnat, sub-prefect, opened the doors… Maria Cuny’s first cuvée, vintage 2000, has been tasted. « A wine with a good concentration of aromatic intensities representing the identity of Vézelay’s wines stated the the manager of the National Institute of Controlled Origine form Dijon, Mr Laville. Among the fifty odd people attending, numerous local, departmental and regional project martners could be found, aswell as Norbert Somogyi, the agricultural attaché for the Hungarian Embassy, ...Maria was able to live her dream thanks to the training she received in tourism, viticulture and oenology...” we could meet local, departmental and regional partners of this project and also Norbert Somogyi Hungary Embassy’s agricultural attaché, ...Maria has been able to fulfil her dream thanks to the formation in tourism, viticulture and oenology..."
- Yonne Républicaine November 02
"From shepherd to wine grower…She was a shepherd in the Roquefort region and decided, several years ago, to settle herself and family in the wine country… Maria Cuny, vintner in Saint Père since 2000… received her first silver medal for her Vézelay 2001… She offers theme tours for her guests and invites them to discover her vineyards, from the slopes of Nanchèvres, Vèzelay. Here we can savour the environment ant the same time, leaving moderation to the others." |
| | - Yonne Républicaine 10/25/03
"Vézelay in Hachette Guide… Hachette guide 2004 pays tribute to Vézelay’s wine… Maria Cuny obtained stars for her white Vézelay 2001 and for her Bourgogne Rouge 2001. All the vintners producing Bourgogne Blanc Vézelay do so in accordance with the specifications laid out in the charter for this appellation. The award given by Hachette Guide proves that despite the competition, Vézelay is unique by its ancestral soil and by the vintners’ action for the revival of its vineyards"
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Coquelicots
François Brochet
www.ete-a-vezelay.com |
- Guide Hachette 2004
"Maria Cuny’s horizon is Vézelay’s basilica, an architectural jewel, classified as a world heritage site by Unesco. The label of her wine is very nice and respects the norms: the basilica is represented on the label of the white Bourgogne Vézelay 2001 awarded with one star but is no longer present for the red Pinot Noir because the appellation Vézelay is strictly reserved to white wines. Crimson ruby colour, spicy aromas, still closed, this wine is particularly suited for such a hard vintage and it rests on a good level tannin. Clean and with a good structure, it may be kept for one to two years, allowing it to become rounder."
- Yonne Républicaine 07/30/04
Guédelon has its wine. Cuvée of Friendship.
That could have been a simple commercial story between a vintner and the director of the medieval site of Guédelon. It quickly became a story of friendship between two women with personality. Maria Cuny and Marylin Martin have found each other. In 1997 Maria Cuny came for the first time in Guédelon as she was studying tourism. In 2000, she settles as a wine-grower in Saint-Père sous Vézelay. "One evening, I put television on and I see a report devoted to Maryline. I was down in the dumps. After the report, I said myself: I still have future! " explains Maria.
Last May, I was going to an exhibition in a village in Puisaye. I was late. The organizers said to me that they did not wait for me any more. I had folders in my car, and bottles. I decided to prospect in Saint Fargeau, Saint-Sauveur. I stopped in Guédelon. I met Maryline and symbiosis took place.
"I was moved by her character, this kind of mother courage, who moreover, has a superb product. I bought the stock that she had in her car without tasting the wine "continues Maryline Martin.
... Maryline for a long time wanted to set up a Cuvée Guédelon. Logically, it is with Maria that this project is born. The label of this cuvée of white wine was created starting from an illumination made by an artist of the castle...
The Cuvée of Guédelon is for sale in the shop of the medieval site and in Maria Cuny’s one, 34 rueSt Etienne in Vézelay. |
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