Winemaker Notes
At eleven acres, these vines constitute the largest holding of the domain. And the vines are mature, with an average age of 55 years. The site is up-slope and the wine is heavily influenced by the calcareous soils. Deep, dark, direct and mineral, this wine is a terrific buy for premier cru Burgundy. Production averages 1,500 cases.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Maranges 1Er Cru la Fussière, which includes 20% whole bunch fruit (as has been the case for the last three vintages), offers plenty of mulberry and damson fruit on the nose. I appreciate the vigor here, a wine that has no intention of shortchanging you on fruit while maintaining admirable definition. The palate is well balanced with a sense of succulence on the entry counterbalanced by a keen thread of acidity. The whole bunch works really well here, lending the blackcurrant-tinged finish complexity and brightness. This is a Maranges from the very top drawer.
Range: 91-93
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Decanter
The Bachelets’ 55-65 year old vines in the Clos de la Boutière have produced a wilder, more deep-pitched Maranges this year, its ripe cherry fruit mingling with suggestions of forest floor and grilled squab. On the palate the wine is velvety and full-bodied, with a more prominent chassis of savoury tannin and a bit more tension and grip than the pleasure-bent Fussière.
Drinking Window 2020 - 2030
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.