Domaine Geantet-Pansiot

The Domaine Géantet Pansiot in Burgundy is currently run by Vincent Géantet, who is the third generation of vignerons in his family, though the vineyards and even winery buildings have changed with each new generation, as a result of inheritance laws covering a widespread family. His daughter, Emilie, continues the tradition having set up on her own while son, Fabien, has been working alongside his father since the age of 12. Edmond Géantet began domaine bottling in 1955. Vincent joined his father in 1977, taking full charge in 1989.
 
The vineyards are run according to lutte raisonée, with no herbicides, just one or two anti-disease chemical treatments. The grapes are sorted on three tables de tri, the last of which is done berry by berry, after destemming. The uncrushed berries are cooled to 10°C for 10 days, then warmed to 22°C for fermentation to start. The tanks are punched down once and pumped over once a day, after which the solids are given a light pressing and all the juice is left to settle for a week, so that any last sugar emerging from the pressed skins can finish fermenting. The wines are then matured in barrel for 15 months, with a couple of stirrings but no racking. 30% new wood is used on every cuvée, from Bourgogne Rouge to Charmes-Chambertin.
 
The Géantets now exploit 12 hectares, much of it with farming contracts. Half of this is village Gevrey Chambertin and a further three and a bit hectares generic Burgundy. A small cuvée of Ladoix has been added in 2007.

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

Hautes-Cotes-de Nuits

Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits covers land in 19 communes, stretching from around the hill of Vergy in the north to Magny-lès-Villers, which sits astride the dividing line with the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune.

Arcenant is one of the best wine villages in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, and is also noted for the quality of its fruit-based liqueurs such as the Crème de Cassis (as well as Framboise, Pêche de Vigne, Guignolet and more) from Jean-Baptiste Joannet. The leading wine estates are Olivier Jouan and Aurélien Verdet.

Le Clos du Prieuré is located on a south-facing slope above the village, with a white marl and limestone bedrock with affinity to parts of Corton-Charlemagnee, according to Thibault Liger-Belair – whose plot is planted at 10,000 vines per hectare rather than the usual higher training and wider spacing of the Hautes-Côtes. The other main producer is Aurélien Verdet, as before.

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.