2019 Auxey-Duresses, 1er Cru, Domaine Roulot, Burgundy

Domaine Guy Roulot

Jean-Marc Roulot has been in charge since 1989, when he decided to stay with the vines rather than to pursue a full time career as an actor on stage and film, subsequently bringing a fine domaine up into the very top league. He is one of the few producers who has managed to move from heavier to purer wines without losing anything of the wine’s potential quality and complexity. Everything is still in place, both the greater pull of fabulous white Burgundy and the more detailed intricacies of the subtle differences between one terroir and another.
 
The wines are built, not in the sense of any artificial construction, but by the weaving of layers one upon another. These are exceptional Meursaults which show their real class at 10 years old. The vineyards have been farmed organically since 1999, with some experiments in biodynamics - all is in place for first class raw material and Jean-Marc is not afraid to pick early if the condition of the grapes suggests it. Where the skins of the grapes are healthy, Jean-Marc likes to crush them before pressing, which he finds gives a greener juice with a degree more acidity but without changing the pH of the wine. The barrels fulfil their role of aerating the wine, with no more than 20% new wood for village wines and 25-30% for the crus.

Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director and author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.

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.