Winemaker Notes
This clos grows at a lower elevation than Fussière and borders Santenay's Clos Rousseau premier cru. Surface is 3.5 acres and average age of vines is a very respectable 75 years. The wine tends toward red fruit (Fussière tends toward black) and is a structured, old-vine creation.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
Another hyper intense black purple colour, always very concentrated from their 90 year old vines, still in great condition. Black cherry stones. Plenty of tannins. I am not overpowered by the fruit though. It just needs much more time to come out of its shell. There is a huge mass of really bright fruit waiting within and a lovely clean pure finish.
Barrel Sample: 90-93
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.