Santenay
Appellation VillageSantenay
Grape Variety :
Pinot Noir.
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Vineyard
Site: Santenay is a charming village, at the southern end of the Côte de Beaune, below the Mont de Sène. History & tradition: this ancient village was already famous in Roman times for its hot springs named "Santinae Aquae" (health-giving waters). Soil: clay and limestone.
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Viticulture
Plantation density: 10,000 vinestocks/ha in order to extract as much as possible from the terroir and limit the production of each vine stock. Pruning: Guyot. Yield: 47 hl/ha - purposely low, in order for the grapes to reveal every nuance of the terroir. Grape Supply: grapes and wines provided by regular supply partners (long-term contracts).
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Vinification
Maceration: Joseph Drouhin seeks total control of the process of extraction; extraction gives colour and substance but should never be detrimental to the finesse and typical character of the wine. "Pigeage" (punching down of the cap during fermentation): once a day until half of fermentation is done; one pumping over ("remontage") per day till the end of the fermentation Pressing: vertical press; separation of free run juice from pressed juice.
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Ageing
Type: in barrels (10% in new oak). Length: 12 to 15 months. Origin of the wood: French oak forests. Weathering of the wood: Joseph Drouhin insists on total control of the weathering for a period of 3 years, one of the contributing elements to the elegance of the wine. Follow-up: barrel by barrel. Throughout the ageing process, decisions are taken only after careful tasting evaluation, barrel by barrel. The data obtained is then completed through technical analysis. As with every other Joseph Drouhin wine, absolute priority is given to the true expression of terroir and character of the vintage.
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Tasting note by Véronique Boss-Drouhin
"A real "terroir" wine. A deep ruby color and an intense nose of wild fruit : blackberry, blueberry, cranberry. Often tannic in its youth. Long and persistent on the palate, with flavours reminiscent of grenadine syrup or pomegranate".
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Vintage
As every year we sorted the grapes at once to select the most beautiful bunches that were to be kept in whole clusters and to remove berries that could present a lack of maturity. The sanitary state was very satisfactory with almost no rot. Very quickly at the beginning of the fermentations the colours were released and gradually the varietal character of Pinot Noir was expressed. We favoured this aromatic expression to look for balanced wines without too much power. The tannins are nicely melted, the acidity levels from normal to low. The fermentations and macerations lasted about 3 weeks. In the course of the winter, the malolactic fermentations were triggered and proceeded sometimes rather quickly. The Côte de Beaune has very nice wines with a good concentration.
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Serving
Temperature: 16°C (61-62°F). Cellaring: 8 to 15 years.
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