Bourgogne Pinot Noir Altis 2023

This Bourgogne Pinot Noir Altis comes from a plot in Saint-Sernin-du-Plain, in Saône-et-Loire, west of Maranges and Santenay. Replanted in 2018 with high, wide-spaced vines, it occupies a south-south-east-facing slope on a soil of clay, limestone and variegated marls. The name Altis, from the Latin altus, pays tribute to these high-trained vines, whose height and air circulation limit disease and damage from late frosts.

Winemaking is traditional. A three-day cold pre-fermentation precedes daily punching down and pumping over, for a gentle, balanced extraction. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine is aged in tank for 10 to 12 months depending on the vintage, without any time in barrel, to preserve all the purity of the fruit and the freshness of the Pinot Noir.

This wine reveals notes of raspberry, cherry, redcurrant, strawberry, violet, peony, pepper, cinnamon and forest floor. The bright ruby-red colour precedes a fresh, appealing nose. The palate offers lovely precision, carried by fine, delicate tannins and subtle spicy touches. The supple, elegant structure ends on a lively, refreshing finish.

The cradle of wine culture in Western Europe, France owes its first vines to the Greeks of Phocaea, who settled around Marseille some twenty-six centuries ago, before the Romans spread viticulture along the Rhône and the Garonne and as far as Champagne. In the Middle Ages, Cistercian and Benedictine monks cleared the slopes of Burgundy and patiently mapped out the climats, laying the foundations of the notion of terroir. The 19th century brought the glory of the classifications, then the disaster of phylloxera, which wiped out the vineyards before they were rebuilt on American rootstocks; the creation of the appellations d'origine contrôlée in the 1930s then set the rules that would inspire the whole world. Today, France vies every year with Italy and Spain for first place in world production by volume and remains the ultimate benchmark of the Old World, as much for its age-worthy wines as for its winemaking models. Vineyards cover almost the entire country, from the cool north of Champagne and Alsace to the Mediterranean shores of Languedoc and Provence, by way of the oceanic climates of Bordeaux, the Loire and the South-West, continental Burgundy, the steep slopes of the northern Rhône and the high-altitude valleys of Savoie and the Jura. This mosaic of soils – limestone, schist, gravel or rounded pebbles – explains the extraordinary diversity of styles. As for grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominate Bordeaux and produce structured reds, Pinot Noir is the signature of Burgundian finesse, Syrah of the depth of the Rhône, while Grenache, Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Mourvèdre cover every register, from easy-drinking wines to wines for long ageing. Among the whites, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin, Riesling and Viognier offer expressions ranging from lively and mineral to unctuous, all the way to great sweet wines. A land of benchmarks and constant discoveries, France remains the compass for wine lovers the world over.