Winemaker Notes
Les Vignes Franches is located at the southern end of Beaune's belt of Premier Cru sites, near the commune's boundary with Pommard. The grapes for this wine are 70% destemmed and fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled vats. The wine ages in 228 litre French oak barrels.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Sourced from a plot near the southern end of Beaune and its border with Pommard, this rich, deeply red-cherried Pinot Noir is accented by hints of spice and earth. Structured and richly concentrated, it's also vibrantly fresh, with a finish marked by strikes of stone and a delicate candied-violet perfume. The wine still needs time to open but should approach peak by 2027 Cellar Selection.
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Wine Spectator
Distinctly spicy, this red evokes cherry, currant, mineral and black pepper flavors. While aligned to a hard-edge structure, this remains balanced, with the fruit shining through on the finish. Best from 2025
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.”
While the city represents the epicenter of wine production in Burgundy, the term, “Beaune” also refers to the specific sub-appellation of the greater Côte de Beaune, whose vineyards climb up the pastoral slopes that border the city to its west. Originally founded as a Roman camp by Julius Caesar, the city of Beaune eventually became the seat of the dukes of Burgundy until the 13th century. Today it is home to top négociants such as Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, and Bouchard Père et Fils.
The appellation, dominated by Pinot Noir plantings, represents a lovely and charming place to begin to understand red Burgundy. Its sandy soils create light and supple, floral driven Pinot Noir. These wines are designed to be enjoyed within five to 10 years. The vineyards of Beaune span a broad swath of Premier Crus from Savigny-lès-Beaune to its border with Pommard.
Chardonnay acreage here has been increasing here in the more recent years.