2016 Santenay Rouge, Le Passetemps, 1er Cru, Jean-Marc Vincent, Burgundy

Domaine Jean-Marc Vincent

Domaine Jean-Marc Vincent is a family-owned wine producer based in Burgundy, France and is known for producing high-quality wines from the renowned wine regions of Meursault and Santenay. The domaine is named after its founder, Jean-Marc Vincent, who has been responsible for its success and reputation.

Meursault is famous for its white wines, particularly Chardonnay, and is considered one of the most prestigious appellations in Burgundy. Santenay, on the other hand, is primarily known for its red wines, although it also produces some whites.

Domaine Jean-Marc Vincent is known for its traditional winemaking approach, focusing on terroir expression and allowing each vineyard’s unique characteristics to shine through in the wines. They often use oak barrels for aging, which can impart subtle nuances to the final product.

Auxey-Duresses

A small village in a side valley off the Côte de Beaune, with a slightly cooler local climate making for a more austere style of Burgundy. Nonetheless this can be an excellent source of relatively inexpensive wine in warmer years, or from top producers. At the moment production is about 75:25 red to white. The reds can age well, while the whites can have a most attractive minerality.

• 138 hectares of village Auxey-Duresses
• 32 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (nine in all), the best being Les Duresses
• Recommended producers:  Comte Armand (red), Fichet (white)

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.

Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.

The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.