Domaine Michel Gros Hautes Cotes de Nuits Fontaine St. Martin Monopole (375ML half-bottle) 2014
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The debut 2014 Hautes Côtes de Nuits Rouge Fontaine St. Martin is the result of a 40-year process of Michel's father purchasing parcels in the lieu-dit of Fontaine St. Martin, finally completed by his son seven years ago to form a monopole. Hitherto, it was blended into the regular Hautes Côtes de Nuits Rouge. It has a very engaging bouquet, the red fruit a shade darker than the regular bottling, with fine delineation. The palate is lively and fresh with a keen line of acidity. There is great tension here with vivacious red cherry and cassis fruit furnishing the finish that lingers in the mouth. An excellent wine, an excellent debut.
Range: 89-91 -
Wine Spectator
This is tight, fresh and long, with a silky texture and firm tannins coating the violet, berry and underbrush flavors. Best from 2018 through 2023.
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Decanter
Superb wine, showing a lovely mix of dried and orchard fruit, touches of spice, a lively texture and mineral finish.
Other Vintages
2019-
Spectator
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Spectator
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Passionate but also very rigorous, Michel GROS brings constant care to the development of his wines, by mastering all the stages of production, from vine through to bottling. Modest and unassuming, he expresses himself through his wines: generous, fine, elegant, of reliable and even quality.
Michel GROS and all his team invite you to discover this universe of hard work and exigency, but also of sharing and passion.
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.”
In the hills just above the commune appellations of the Côte de Nuits, rising to about 1,600 feet, scattered vineyards join to form what is known as the Hautes Côtes de Nuits.
Hautes Côtes de Nuits together with Hautes Côtes de Beaune include 47 communes. Collectively the wines of the Hautes Côtes offer a great introduction to the personality of Burgundy—both red and white—that won’t make a dent in the pocketbook.
The majority of wines produced here are red (made of Pinot Noir) and show a spry fruitiness, crisp texture and aromas of blackcurrant, cherry, rose, violet, pepper and mint. Red Hautes Côtes are perfect with crostini topped with pork or duck rillettes, soft soft cheeses like Camembert or Brillat-Savarin and dishes such as grilled lamb or roasted quail.
Whites, while less prolific, offer diversity and aside from Chardonnay, this is where one might occasionally run into the very rare Pinot Blanc or Pinot Gris, which are completely forbidden among Villages appellations and Crus. Aligoté grows here as well, alongside the blackcurrant bushes used to make cassis for vin blanc cassis (a cocktail of dry white wine mixed with blackcurrant liqueur). Hautes Côtes whites show qualities such as lemon, quince, apple, pear, white peach and honeysuckle; they are great stand-alone sippers or paired with savory tapas, sautéed shrimp and flaky white fish.