Winemaker Notes
The 2023 Maranges La Fussières 1er Cru Rouge is blended with 30% whole bunch. This has an understated bouquet with light earthy red fruit with sous-bois and mineral scents. It opens succinctly in the glass. The palate is medium bodied with finely chiseled tannins, very poised, airy and transparent yet with real weight and presence on the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2023 Maranges La Fussières 1er Cru Rouge is blended with 30% whole bunch. This has an understated bouquet with light earthy red fruit with sous-bois and mineral scents. It opens succinctly in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins, very poised, airy and transparent yet with real weight and presence on the finish. Bon vin!
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Jasper Morris
50% whole bunch. One plot with concentrated small berries and one very old vines, mean that whole bunches work well here on a heavier clay soil. Almost a black centre with a purple rim. This is very generous but not too sunny, a wealth of black cherry and raspberry fruit, velvet texture which is very rare in Maranges and a long finish.
Barrel Sample: 89-92
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Forming a transition between the Côte d’Or and the Saône-et-Loire of the Côte Chalonnaise, Maranges is the southernmost village of the Côte de Beaune district of Burgundy and includes seven Premiers Crus. Wines grown in Maranges may claim the names of their respective communes, Cheilly-lès-Maranges, Dezize-lès-Maranges or Sampigny-lès-Maranges, or Côte de Beaune-Villages. Confusingly they may also be called Maranges or Maranges Côte de Beaune. Nevertheless, the village’s vineyards, primarily composed of limestone and pebbly soils, produce charming, medium-bodied, fleshy Pinot Noir, laden with red or purple fruit and a touch of spice. A small percentage of admirable and fresh whites come from Maranges, made of Chardonnay.