Winemaker Notes
Believed to be some of the oldest vines within Beaune with the plant year of 1904, the grapes must be harvested by hand. The vineyard is .23 hectares, planted east to southeast at 229 meters elevation upon clay and limestone soils. Once harvested the grapes are whole-cluster fermented with native yeast; pigeage and light pump-over with long settling and long, gentle pressing. The wine sees 100% malolactic and is aged for 16 months in French oak, of which 66% is new.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
More in the earthy, savory camp than fruity, this red offers woodsy underbrush, tomato leaf, green olive and bay leaf flavors. Sinewy, with a saline, mineral element on the lightly astringent finish. Needs time. Best from 2027 through 2043. 50 cases made, 25 cases imported.
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.”
A classic source of exceptional Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir, the Côte de Beaune makes up the southern half of the Côte d’Or. Its principal wine-producing villages are Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.
The area is named for its own important town of Beaune, which is essentially the center of the Burgundy wine business and where many negociants center their work. Hospices de Beaune, the annual wine auction, is based here as well.