Domaine Robert Ampeau et Fils Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru 'Ecusseaux' 2003 750ml

FRANCE : BURGUNDY : AUXEY-DURESSES 1ER CRU

Pinot Noir

MED-BODIED, MORELLO CHERRY, RED BERRIES, FOREST FLOOR, LEATHER, OAK

Domaine Robert Ampeau doesn't release on the trade's schedule. The family keeps its wines in six cold cellars around Meursault and lets them go only when it judges them ready, which is how a 2003 gets to the shelf more than two decades after harvest.

Robert Ampeau bought this parcel of Les Ecusseaux in the 1950s. It's a gently sloped, southeast-facing premier cru at about 200 meters on the Monthelie edge of Auxey-Duresses, with thin clay-limestone topsoil over rocky, iron-rich subsoil. The grapes are mostly destemmed, fermented in cement with native yeast, then aged about ten months in pièces, 10–25% of them new.

2003 was Burgundy's heat-wave year. Every day from August 4 to 13 topped 40°C, and picking started earlier than in any year since 1893. What you're buying is a hot-vintage Pinot from a traditional house, aged in the domaine's own cellar instead of yours. Give it time in a decanter.

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