The Pinot Noir is the only grape variety of the Santenay Villages and Premiers Crus.
- Density 10000 feet/ha.
- Cordon de Royat pruning method.
- Manual harvest.
- Yields of 50 hl/ha.
- Ruby red dress, with violine hues.
- The nose shows pleasant aromas of flowers and little red fruits.
- In the mouth, the attack is fresh with a lot of fruit (black berries) and a hint of liquorice. The wine is well-balanced, showing silky tannins and a beautiful length.
Drink with small game, glazed or caramelised poultry in the Asian style, braised beef, lamb or a plate of fine matured Burgundian cheeses.
Serve ideally at a temperature of 16 to 18 °C. (60-64°F.).
Can be opened now or kept in the cellar for 10 years even more.
Santenay wine is produced in the communes of Santenay and Remigny in Côte de Beaune of Burgundy.
The Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) Santenay may be used for red and white wine with respectively Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as the main grape variety.
The production consists of almost 85% red wine, and a little over 15% of white wine. There are just Premier Cru vineyards within the Santenay AOC.
The vineyard of this Premier Cru "Passetemps" is located on the way out of the village toward Chassagne-Montrachet and between the "Les Beaurepaires" and "Les Gravières" plot.
The grapes are harvested by hand and sorted manually on arrival at the winery. All the grapes were de-stemmed. Cold maceration for 4 to 5 days at (8°C-10°C. / 46-50°F.).
Around f ifteen days of fermentation in thermo-regular stainless steel tanks, with punching down with pumping over twice a day during the fermentation.
Ageing in oak barrels of 228 litres (including 20% of new oak), for around 15 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.
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