2017 Chorey-lès-Beaune, Domaine Catherine et Claude Maréchal, Burgundy, France

A very generous, richly textured red burgundy. There are gentle tannins that give the wine a robust structure, and the depth of raspberry and redcurrant on the palate is impressive. There is a hint in toastiness from the barrel ageing which is very well balanced with the fruit. 

The grapes are hand picked to avoid oxidation and achieve optimum maturi-ty and hand sorted to eliminate bruised fruit. They are transported to the cuve by conveyor belt. Fermentation takes place using indigenous yeast and the lees are returned to the juice to obtain a result to our satisfaction. We are guided by the taste. At the optimum moment the wine is transferred from tank to barrel (10 to 25% new) and after 10 to 15 months when the wine is ready it is bottled without filtration.

Claude Marechal makes his wines as naturally as possible, taking his inspiration from his late friend Henri Jayer who he trained with early in his career. In common with Jayer he makes wines above and beyond the expectations of his terroirs. His wines are pure and sleek with vibrant fruit and great potential to age. These wines are available in very limited quantities but are something you should definitely have in your cellar.In the vineyard ripeness is the watchword and the vines are maintained in order to maximise phenolic maturity every vintage whatever the conditions. No chemical fertilisers are used and the harvest is hand picked each vintage, Claude says he is usually the last in each appellation to pick which shows on the ripe fruited nature of his wines. After harvest the bunches are sorted by hand and gently de-stemmed before vinification using natural yeasts. The fermenting must is pumped over twice daily and once alcoholic fermentation is finished the wines are placed into oak barrels where they mature for between 10 and 15 months.