Winemaker Notes
With aromas of ripe red fruits, almonds and earth, this is an elegant wine with depth and potent tannins. It will develop in the bottle for 5 to 10 years.
Serve with game birds and earthy cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
Clean and even purple, with a fine full pinot nose, ripe but with reserve. Not especially full bodied until right at the finish, fine tannins and very long finish on a surprising acidity.
Barrel Sample: 88-91 -
Wine Spectator
A beefy red highlighted by a mix of black cherry, blackberry, smoke, earth and iron aromas and flavors. Shows grainy tannins that ply the rich texture, leaving a compact finish. Features fine length. Best from 2025 through 2036. 500 cases made, 250 cases imported.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Domaine Louis Jadot Santenay Clos de Malté is fragrant and delicate. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits aromas and flavors of wild strawberries and other bright fruits. Pair it with lightly grilled salmon. (Tasted: February 2, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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 far southern end of the Côte de Beaune, Santenay forms a little notch that juts into the otherwise straight border with Côte Chalonnaise.
Santenay red wines show the true essence of red Burgundy at good price points and without demanding a lot of cellar time. Enticing aromas of rose-petal, violet, red fruits and licorice lead to sturdiness on the palate. With soils rich in oolitic limestone and marl, this is the home of well-constructed, hearty Pinot noir and represents a fantastic region to explore if you are just beginning your understanding of red Burgundy.
Reputable vineyards of Santenay include La Maladière, as well as the Premier Crus of La Comme, Clos de Tavannes, and Les Gravières.