Nuits-Saint-Georges Au Bas de Combe 2022

The Au Bas de Combe climat lies at the northern edge of the Nuits-Saint-Georges appellation, right on the border with Vosne-Romanée, in the heart of the Côte de Nuits. Despite its name, the plot is not located that low on the slope. The vines take root in clay-limestone soils, typical of the foot of the Côte de Nuits. The semi-continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers, allows Pinot Noir to reach ideal ripeness, combining power and finesse.

The estate farms its vines without herbicides or insecticides. The grapes are fully destemmed, then undergo a cold maceration of about a week, before a fermentation driven by native yeasts. The wine is then aged in oak barrels for around eighteen months, which refines its tannic structure. The wines are bottled without fining or filtration, to preserve the full expression of fruit and terroir.

This wine reveals notes of black cherry, raspberry, blackcurrant, peony, violet, liquorice, forest floor and graphite. The nose, open and floral, blends red and black fruit with a ferrous touch typical of Nuits-Saint-Georges. The palate, fresh and energetic, rests on round, silky tannins, with lovely balance and a lingering 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.