Winemaker Notes
This Marchand-Tawse cuvée is sourced entirely from two old-vine (40 and 70-year old), clay-limestone soil parcels in the villages of Flagey-Echézaux and Vosne-Romanée. The vines are situated only a short distance from the famous Grand Cru terroirs of these two villages, expressing the Gamay grape in a way quite unlike the typical Burgundy terroirs you're familiar with, yet also uniquely distinct from cru Beaujolais. Simply put, this is an incredible, unique wine from a legendary terroir. The Gamay shows the finesse, power, and complexity of its Echézaux and Vosne-Romanée terroirs, with a structure a notch above many similarly priced wines from the region. Baskets of wild violets, and crushed blue fruits leap out of the glass, with undercurrents of peppery spices and dusty earth tones wafting around the edges. The refined, balanced structure of a true Côte de Nuits wine is unmistakable.
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
The origin of perhaps the world’s very finest Pinot Noir, Côte de Nuits is the northern half of the Côte d'Or and includes the famous wine villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Flagey-Echezeaux and Nuits-St-Georges.
Fine whites from Chardonnay are certainly found in the Côte de Nuits, but with much less frequency than top-performing reds made of Pinot noir. The little village of Nuits-St-Georges in its southern end gave the region its name: Côte de Nuits. The city of Dijon marks its northern border.