The Santenay Premier Cru Blanc are only made with Chardonnay grapes.
- Density 10 000 feet/ha.
- Guyot pruning method.
- Manual harvest.
- Yields of 45 hl/ha.
- Pale gold yellow colour with green reflects.
- The bouquet is very elegant offering aromas of white flowers and mineral notes, delicately woody.
- On the palate, this is a lively and fresh wine with nice structure and delicate flavors: fruity (citrus), flowery (acacia) and mineral notes. A very racy wine, refined, well balanced and rich with a very long persistancy.
It is perfect for grilled or smoked salmon and also delicious as an aperitif.
Serve at a temperature of 14 °C. (57°F.).
This wine can be opened now or kept in the cellar for 3 years.
In the southern part of the Côte de Beaune, surrounding the villages of Santenay. The « appellation of origin » was attributed in 1937 and consists of 12 « climats » classified as Premier Crus.
- Grey limestone soil.
- Varied slopes with an often pronounced inclination.
- Southern and South-Eastern exposure.
- Altitude of 190-380 meters.
100% handmade harvest. At their arrival in the cellar, the grapes are immediately pressed (moderate pressure 0.2 bars to extract the best juices). They are settled in thermo regulated stainless steel tank during 12 hours.
A racking separate the bad lies to the clear juices. These juices are then placed in barrels to be fermented. Using selected yeast, no chaptalization. Maturing process 100% in barrel (40% new one) during 13 months.
After a very mild winter, perhaps too mild, this vintage was marked by two contrasting periods. The spring was sunny and milk, with no frost, although there were some localized storms with significant episodes of hail that hit certain plots hard on the Côte de Nuits in June. Then the summer was very dry and very hot, blocking the ripening process in some areas. Harvesting was early and was exceptionally abundant. The wonderfully healthy crop promised great potential for producing highly sophisticated wines.
In Chablis, after a very dry spring and summer, we feared a harvest that would be less good than predicted, due to a lack of juice in the berries. Very high temperatures in August sent acidity right down in the grapes and brought the harvest forward to the end of August. But this early harvest of very abundant fruit allowed us to preserve some good acidity.
On the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, the harvest began with the Côte de Beaune whites at the end of August, followed by the Pinot Noir in early September on the northern part of the Côte. With the harvest under a radiant sun and heat-wave-level temperatures, the reds offer a rare concentration of polyphenolics. Quantity and quality were the joint order of the day.
Harvesting on the Côte Chalonnaise ran from 27 August to 18 September. Very localized rain had an impact on ripening, which varied from plot to plot. The Chardonnays were harvested first to preserve the lovely acidity of this particularly sunny vintage. The Pinot Noirs with their purple juice already foretold of a rich and powerful vintage.
PDF file