Robert Ampeau et Fils Volnay-Santenots 2003

FRANCE : BURGUNDY : VOLNAY 1ER CRU

SUSTAINABLE : Pinot Noir

FULL-BODIED, DRIED CHERRY, PLUM, SOUS BOIS, TOBACCO, NEUTRAL OAK

Les Santenots sits inside the commune of Meursault, but Pinot Noir grown there is legally entitled to the Volnay appellation — the only Premier Cru in Burgundy that crosses a commune line. The reason is the soil: the clay here runs visibly red with iron, denser and better at holding water than the thin limestone of Taillepieds or Champans up the hill.

That detail decides how you read the vintage. Clive Coates MW ranked the 2003 Côte de Beaune by clay content, putting Pommard above Volnay, and closed with the line that governs the whole year: the name of the domaine on the label is the most important criterion of all. Santenots is the corner of Volnay that behaves like Pommard, and Ampeau is the address.

Concrete fermentation on native yeast, ten months in pièces, then two decades in one of six cold cellars around the family house in Meursault. Robert Ampeau never released a wine before he thought it was ready, and died in 2004 on his tractor in the vineyards — this is among the last vintages he made. Drinking now, with runway to 2032. Stand it up a day ahead and decant off the sediment.

PAIRINGS :