Volnay
1er Cru Santenots 2019
Situated in the Cote de Beaune, the Volnay vineyards have enjoyed a solid reputation since the 9th Century.
These wines were enjoyed by the Dukes of Burgundy and Kings of France - that says it all !
Origin
Contrary to its name, “Les Santenots” is not located in the village of Volnay, but in Meursault, just to the south. Though best known for its white wines, certain terroirs, such as Les Santenots, located mid-hill, happen to be better adapted to bringing out all the finesse the Pinot Noir grape has to offer.
Several hypotheses exist concerning the name of this locality: "Santenots" may come from the Latin SENTES "brambles, thorny bushes". It may also be derived, as was the name of the village of Santenay, from the Gaulish SENTU "way" (alluding to the roads that passed through there to link Auxey-Duresses with the Roman road). It could also refer to 2 “ouvrées” (=1/12 hectare) of vines in La Sautenot (that could have been located in the Les Santenots area), that the Abbess of the Tart Abbey gave to the Abbey of Cîteaux in 1218.
Viticulture
Grape variety: pinot noir
Soils: brown marls and small pebbles.
Orientation: East
Surface area under vine: 0.19 ha
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 31 hL/ha
Average age of the vines: 65 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 16 September 2019.
The grapes were sorted a first time in the vineyard and a second time on the sorting table when they arrived at the winery.
At the winery: the grapes were 50% destemmed but not crushed (they were left whole) and were gravity-fed into tanks. Maceration with 50% whole bunches of 22 days including 3 days cold (12 ° C): Fermentation used indigenous yeasts only (no additives such as enzymes or tannins were used). Vinification without sulfur. 2 punchings of the cap.
Ageing
Maturation: aged on the lees for 15 months with no racking using a proportion of 40% 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 in February 2021, the wine was very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity.
Number of bottles: 768.
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 7 to 10 years.
Tasting notes
With a beautiful ruby color, this wine surprises with its first intense nose of violets. It then reveals intense aromas of red berries and pepper. On the palate, it is very fresh in attack, a juicy wine with a very good length.
