TN Santenay and Maranges at Ariana II

Richard Zambuni

Richard Zambuni

Location
London and Boston
Well, that was fun. It was another of those blessed evenings where all the wines show as you hope they would. It was an interesting range with vintages from 1978 to 2019. The two Bachelet-Monnot wines were my first Maranges wines and they did not disappoint. I'm afraid that my note-taking ceased at the mid-point, so I hope that someone else can fill in the missing wines. This kind of wine is the sort that brings a smile to your face - and no they're not going to knock the top burgundies off their thrones, but when drinking for pleasure they have a lot to offer. I'd drink/buy any of these wines again. And as usual Ariana II did us proud with the food. And finally thank you to everyone for your wines and your good company.

Santenay 1er cru les Gravières 1978 bottled by The Wine Society ***1/2
I had my doubts about this bottle, but as soon as it was opened and poured those doubts evaporated. The colour is remarkably good for a 45 year old wine, still with some brightness to the core. The nose took a few minutes to develop and I found some lovely earthy raspberry fruit to be the dominant component along with some old wine sweetness and a twist of green. The wine developed well in the glass having really good length. The fruit is not that complex to be fair, but the important thing that it is still there! The fruit remains in the raspberry register and is underpinned by some attractive earthiness.. It finishes with some sweetness and just a touch of tannin to keep things lively. Really good for what it is. I wonder who the producer was?

Maranges 1er cru La Fussière Domaine Bachelet-Monnot 2016 ***
There is an attractive nose of hedgerow fruits and something more savoury like hawthorn berries. Good sweetness here and really toothsome. I think these are wines to drink on the younger side, but I'm sure they'll age into the medium term.

Maranges 1er cru La Fussière Domaine Bachelet-Monnot 2019 ***
There's a really bright garnet colour here shot through with purple - very attractive in the glass. Perhaps slightly more serious in style than the 2016 but with a lot of similarity in style. Ripe, but fresh and delicious. Good acidity here. Drinking remarkably well for such a young wine.

Santenay 1er cru Comme blanc Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey 2017 ***1/2
One of the great things about PYCM is his ability to conjure great wines from lesser appellations. My benchmark for that hitherto has been his Saint Aubin Pucelle, but this is just as good. There's a notably long cork here. The nose has attractive yellow stone fruits and a mineral, stony component too - and there's no reductive character. It seems that he has dialed back a little with more recent vintages. This wine has real substance to it with the austere yellow stone fruit repeating on the palate and leading to a chalky finish where the extract is evident. This is drinking perfectly well now, but should age well into the medium term. This is a really classy white burgundy.

And that's where my notes finished.

The final four wines were;
Santenay 1er cru Passetemps Domaine J-M Vincent 2010 - very pleasant and at maturity
Santenay 1er cru Clos des Gravières Vieilles Vignes Domaine Hubert Lamy 2014 - fresh, lifted, notable acidity
Santenay 1er cru Beauregard Domaine Justin Girardin 2015 - tasting a little attenuated and surprisingly mature for a 2015, but a good wine
Santenay 1er cru Les Gravières Vieilles Vignes Domaine Vincent Girardin 2007 - holding up well, has that V. Girardin imprint, surprisingly good material here

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Thanks for organising Richard, a top evening and a real eye opener in terms of the quality of the wines from these two lesser sought appellations. My notes go a little further (but not much!) and I'll aim to type them up this evening.

I've asked the question over on the TWS board about their 1978 Santeney, let's see if anyone can help.

Delicious and great value food as well, nice to come home with significant change from £50!
 
Thanks for organising such an enjoyable and informative evening Richard. I’m afraid my notes similarly stopped after the PYCM as the table filled up with more food and bottles. The 78 Santenay was a real treat. Still fresh with acidity and some residual sweet tannin on the finish. Really quite charming. The two Maranges wines punched above their status-the 16 having a bit more body but both drinking well. The PYCM opened up over about 30 minutes tempering some of the grapefruit acidity present initially. I didn’t make a note for the others but really enjoyed them all together with the great food and convivial company.
 
And if anyone is wondering why we drank the PYCM white after three reds, the main reason was to let the temperature come up a bit as it was so cold on arrival. Funnily enough it worked well as a palate refresher before getting back to the reds. Most if not all the reds had been chilled which was very much to their advantage - thanks to everyone for taking such care.
 
Thanks for organising Richard, that was a really enjoyable evening, all the wines showed well but the over riding theme was the pleasure and drinkability of the wines. Sometimes we all over think and over analyse the wines for obvious reasons but the set last night needed to enjoyed with honest food and good company, which we did and it worked well.
Theres a lot of value to be had in these and some other lesser villages, the quality of wine making is getting better all the time, let’s hope the value remains for a good while yet
 
I'd bet on the 1978 being Remoissenet, too. Once did a tasting with Bill Baker where we compared the 'same' wine in three incarnations: Beaune bottled by Remoissenet, Bristol bottled by Averys, and Stevenage bottled by TWS. A fascinating exercise. From memory, we did Beaune Greves in 1971, 1969 and 1959. Maybe 1978 too but it was a long time ago and I've no idea where my notes are.

Roland Remoissenet was a huge buyer of barrels from the southern reaches of the Cote. I remember John Avery telling me about accompanying Roland one day when he bought hundreds of barrels of Maranges that were destined for his Renomee blend.

Fast forwarding to today, the Bachelet-Monnot whites are, of course, pretty special - but that includes the Maranges blanc and doesn't stop at the fancy Puligny crus. I have some Fussieres blanc 2014 in mag and it's gorgeous.
 
Do you remember any conclusions to the tasting, Matthew? it seems that there was a code to understanding at least the grander bottles and that if you were in on it you could get the good stuff!
 
Are you confusing two things Thom? In the tasting with Bill, all wines were Beaune Greves, just different bottlings. Gratifyingly for me (at the time) the Averys bottlings consistently came out top.

I think you might have been referring to things such as the Bourgogne Chevalier de Montfort? That one = Chevalier Montrachet. I once took a bottle of 1973 to one of Peter S's dinners at the Ledbury and it was extremely good from memory. I think some of the Bourgognes had initials in the corner of the labels...BM, etc. These were big clues. There was one called something like Cardinal Richlieu that = Richebourg.

More recently I bought a parcel of Gros F&S wines that were all labelled as Bourgogne but with grander provenance being over production from top vineyards. The original owner got them all from Bernard Gros with full details - he even supplied Grand Cru labels that could be applied as wished! Think I opened some with Jordi and Ken Lamb just before covid. Maybe 1980 Clos Vougeot or Ech? They were 'chunky' but very good drinks.
 
Not totally, I don't think-as I recall even GC Remoissenet bottlings of supposedly the same wine could differ markedly in their sources. Incidentally one of the greatest wines I have ever drunk was a 1969 Vosne Clos Des Reas with an Avery's label.
 
You're ahead of me on that, then, Tom.

I do remember having two bottles of 1964 Averys label Chambertin. Both the labels and the wines were very different. John suggested to me that both came from Pierre Bouree and that he (Pierre, not John) used to taste through his barrels and designate his various crus as he saw fit, so the best barrels would be Chambertin regardless of their actual origin.
 
My notes from the evening. As others have said, the theme was one of joy for sure.

SANTENAY AND MARANGES - Ariana II (30/05/2023)

Six guests at Ariana II, an Afghan restaurant in Kilburn, to sample a small selection of Santenay and Maranges - two under-rated and under-chased appelations at the southern end of the Cote de Beaune.

The first wine is so obscure that it is not even on CellarTracker, a Wine Society bottling from 1978 of Santenay Gravieres (thought to have come from Remoissenet though we will never know), so the notes are instead here.

"Cork crumbles but all is well. A bright medium red, orange tinged, with a smoky nose and a bit of wet wool, this surprises us all by retaining good levels of fruit and tannic bite. The amount of bricking is more obvious with shallow pour, definitely an old wine, But the continuing acidity is remarkable, and initially at least the wine does not have the sweetness of old age; this comes only with a little time, and in fact it is amazing how this wine seems to improve with air rather than fall off a cliff as might have been expected. At the same time the finish decreases and the acidity seems to fade away, and the wine becomes earthier and altogether very pleasant. Given that this is very much alive still one can only imagine what a bruiser this would have been in its youth, and - given TWS are typically exceedingly conservative in their drinking windows - that most if not all of this would have been consumed during what was probably a rather unyielding phase! The best things come to those who wait."

Maranges duo
  • 2016 Domaine Bachelet-Monnot Maranges 1er Cru La Fussière - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Maranges 1er Cru
    A deep pinky red. Candied cherry, not overdone, brambly notes, and to my palate a slight spritz but this could just have been the high acidity. Really nice, fresh and lively still, and air and swirling really brought the sweet red fruit to the fore. A great value proposition from a lesser known (and chased!) appelation. (89 pts.)
  • 2019 Domaine Bachelet-Monnot Maranges 1er Cru La Fussière - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Maranges 1er Cru
    Denser and darker than the 2016 served alongside, and initially more savoury. Quite a powerful wine, with evident tannins, but time in glass edges it closer to the 2016 in terms of the sweetness of the fruit. It reminded me of a Leroux Savigny in terms of immediate appeal - this is fun wine that leaps out of the glass and that is a pleasure to drink young. We agreed though that there is enough here to repay medium cellaring. (89 pts.)
Intermission
  • 2017 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Santenay 1er Cru La Comme Blanc - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Santenay 1er Cru
    Less reductive than is normally the case, barely a hint of it in fact. Maybe the extra long and very high quality cork gives more confidence. Top class chardonnay, it is all here. Intense and linear, with lovely notes of citrus pith and apple peel. If I could get my hands on this I could drink it more or less forever. Beautiful wine. (93 pts.)
Santenay I
  • 2010 Jean-Marc Vincent Santenay 1er Cru Passetemps - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Santenay 1er Cru
    Fully mature and resolved, red fruit dominant, cherry and raspberry with a seductive chalky mouthfeel. This is in a great spot at the moment, at peak you would say, just lovely and brimming with pleasure. I would not hold it for longer when it is so good now. (91 pts.)
  • 2014 Hubert Lamy Santenay 1er Cru Clos des Gravières Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Santenay 1er Cru
    Quite a dark red. This was a firm wine that gave less away than the others on the night, the first wine I felt had an olively character rather than simply bursting with fresh raspberries. On that basis I think I would hide this away for a few more years - I think it will easily cope with this, plenty of acidity and the fruit is hiding below the surface for when its time comes. (88 pts.)
Santenay II
  • 2007 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Santenay 1er Cru Gravières Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Santenay 1er Cru
    Fully mature (not over the hill at all, CT drink dates very cautious imo). Smooth, easy going, just a delight from start to finish. Some tapenade notes initially but then cranberry and cherry compote enveloped by the sweetness of age. Light on its feet, extremely pleasant. (90 pts.)
  • 2015 Justin Girardin Santenay 1er Cru Beauregard - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Santenay 1er Cru
    Another wine that just delivers immediate happiness, which was essentially the theme of the evening. There is also a thrill in knowing you didn't have to remortage your house in order to partake in it; this is the appeal of Santenay. A medium red, the wine itself is more evolved than would be expected, drinking as if it is much older and perhaps closer to the experience of the 2007 Vincent Girardin Gravieres than any of the others. Not one to keep for a long time on this showing. Bright red fruits, a delicious rounded sweetness that 2015s seem to frequently deliver, this is in a good spot. (91 pts.)

Well what an eye-opener this was. Lovely wines, great value wines, perhaps not having the finesse of those villages further north but nonetheless offering substantial joy and happiness. Rather than drink overpriced Bourgogne rouge from expensive producers in Volnay, go get yourself some of this instead. Even the 2019 was drinking very nicely, and whilst not all of these will be as long-lived as the venerable 1978, both the 2007 and 2010 were in great shape. Good simple food accentuated the liveliness of the wines, and it was an excellent idea to meet here - thanks Richard for the effort in organising and to my fellow diners/drinkers for sharing their lovely wines.
Posted from CellarTracker
 
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Thom Blach said:
Not totally, I don't think-as I recall even GC Remoissenet bottlings of supposedly the same wine could differ markedly in their sources.
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For those who have read Kermit Lynch's Adventures on the Wine Route (and if you haven't, you should for a good read and to understand the world of wine of the 1970s and 1980s in France), the Burgundy négociant Kermit visits who offers to put whatever label is desired on the wines was Roland Remoissenet.

Incidentally one of the greatest wines I have ever drunk was a 1969 Vosne Clos Des Reas with an Avery's label.
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One of the very great wines I have drunk was a 1971 Remoissenet Clos St-Jacques. Bernard Repolt, who was working at Remoissenet after the sale to the Millsteins, said he did not know the origins of many/most of the bottles in the cellar but that he did know that one was genuine.
 
Claude Kolm said:
One of the very great wines I have drunk was a 1971 Remoissenet Clos St-Jacques. Bernard Repolt, who was working at Remoissenet after the sale to the Millsteins, said he did not know the origins of many/most of the bottles in the cellar but that he did know that one was genuine.
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What do you think he meant, Claude? I always thought I knew Bernie pretty well and my understanding was that he was unclear of the origins of many of the old bottles - ie the growers - but held no / negligible doubt about their provenance. ie - those labelled Clos Vougeot contained Clos Vougeot but we couldn't be sure whose.

Reading your comment, I'm not sure if you got the same impression?

The question of adulteration is a slightly different one, in my opinion, and seems mostly to apply to English bottlings?
 
Label says it was TWS bottled so my assumption would be exactly that, Richard.

Not sure I'd use the term courtier. Standard negociant practice at the time. As a merchant they buy xx barrels, look after the elevage, and make wine available for purchase. If clients wished to bottle it themselves, that was a perfectly normal option.
 
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