Santenay
1er Cru La Maladière 2019
This is the Côte d’Or’s southernmost appellation, located just to the south of Chassagne-Montrachet …
Origin
Santenay’s vineyards stretch across 400 ha of which 123 ha are planted with Premier Cru vines, divided into 3 distinct zones.
La Maladière, located above the village takes shape looking east, sitting on cracked limestone covered with a thin layer of marl.
In old French, "La Maladière" means "establishment of assistance to the sick". These establishments received donations. This climate name in Santenay refers to one that belonged to the Maladière de Chagny, a few kilometers away.
Viticulture
Grape variety: pinot noir
Soils: stony hillside, grassy plot.
Orientation: East.
Pruning: Guyot system
Average age of the vines: 45 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 22 September 2019.
The grapes were handpicked. First sorting in the vineyard, second on the sorting table upon receipt of the harvest.
At the winery: 100% of grapes were destemmed but not crushed (they were left whole) and were gravity-fed into tanks. Maceration lasted a total of 18 days including 3 days of cold maceration (12°C). Fermentation used indigenous yeasts only (no additives such as enzymes or tannins were used). 2 punchings of the cap.
Ageing
Maturation: aged on the lees for 16 months with no racking using a proportion of 42% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time for very delicate oaking.
Bottling
Bottling: the wine was not fined but was very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity in March 2021.
Number of bottles: 2,077.
Vintage
A legendary vintages?
According to Grégory Patriat, this second harvest at the Ursulines winery will go down as a legendary vintage just like 1969, 1979, 1999, 2009, and 2019, because the concentration in the wines is very high indeed. Years with drought and low yields are always great vintages in Burgundy. We had some new premier crus come online last year, with three in Chambolle-Musigny, one in Gevrey-Chambertin, and one in Nuits-Saint-Georges; Le Clos des Argillères. Furthermore, we revived our tradition of producing white wines in villages better known for their reds, with a white Fixin.
Ageing potential: From 5 to 10 years.
Tasting notes
The color is ruby with purple reflections. The greedy nose exhales aromas of red fruits, but also some smoky notes. On the palate, we find firm tannins while preserving greed and a beautiful freshness.
