Winemaker Notes
Ths wine exemplifies the potential greatmess of Santenay with its forceful yet smooth presence, dark fruit essence, and graceful spice notes on the long finish. This wine is enjoyable upon release when the fruit is most intense yet will also be fascinating to revisit after 5 - 10 years of careful aging.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Attractive red-fruit aromas pour from the glass of this well-structured Santenay. I love the mineral vivacity and judicious fine tannins. A touch of licorice accentuates the freshness in the long, velvety finish. Drink or hold.
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Jasper Morris
Picked half way through. Some whole bunches have been used in the Santenay Maladière. A racy fresh purple, a more lifted nose with brambly raspberry aromatics, to my taste this adds a dimension. Clean, and attractive fruit all the way through, raspberries in particular, with fine tannins and excellent persistence. Drink from 2028-2033.
Barrel Sample: 90-91 -
Wine Spectator
Pretty cherry, strawberry, rose and mineral aromas and flavors mark this elegant, well-constructed red. Persistent and harmonious, this echoes red fruit, adding a touch of underbrush on the finish. Best from 2029 through 2042.
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.