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Domaine Elodie Roy Santenay 1er Cru 'Gravieres' 2019

Appellation
Santenay 1er Cru
Region
Côte de Beaune
Vintage
2019
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Overview

This Santenay 1er cru Les Gravières offers aromas of cassis, plums, dark chocolate and spices. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy, elegant and muscular, it's a deep and concentrated wine

 

Producer

DOMAINE ELODIE ROY

CHEILLY-LES MARAGNES

2018 was the debut vintage for Domaine Elodie Roy.  But the back story is incredible.  And the future…. well, a star is born!

Elodie grew up in a winemaking family in Cheilly-les Maranges in the southern-most tip of the Cote de Beaune.  Her parents worked 25 acres of vines on their own, selling grapes to negociants. So Elodie and her sister helped when they could. As a teenager, she saw how hard the work was, and decided not to follow in their footsteps.

So she studied Law, and then went to work in a bank. Six months later she knew she had made a mistake. So she went back to school.  This time, to study wine. Her parents were not too happy about this turn-about and tried to convince her that there was stability in the banking sector.  But her mind was made up.

The problem was that her father was not yet ready to give up his vines. So she took a job at the Domaine Anne Gros, one of the bijou domains of Vosne-Romanee.  And there she stayed for 11 years.

Then, in 2018, at 38, she took over the family domain.  24 acres of old vines in good condition, including a parcel of 70-year-old vines that were planted by her grandfather.  Elodie says that it has been an emotional transition.

She calls it her ‘mid-life crisis’, and you can sense the fire inside her.  She has seen Burgundy winemaking from the family domain to the highest levels of world-class production.  Her philosophy is respect for the soil and sustainability in her viticulture. As do all the great producers, Elodie knows that there is no great wine without great fruit.

Elodie is just getting started, but she is already a bright shing star.

The Domaine Elodie Roy produces:

Bourgogne Pinot Noir

Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune Blanc

Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune Rouge

Maranges ‘La Rue des Pierres’

Santenay 1er Cru ‘Les Gravieres’

Vintage

BURGUNDY 2019 VINTAGE

There’s a popular saying here in Burgundy which points out that, since the start of the 20th century, vintages ending in ‘9’ have been exceptional. So when 2019 came around, we were secretly anticipating something special. Little did we know!

Every vintage comes with its own hyperbole: best of the decade; greatest of the century; another 1990.  And it’s true, as the climate continues to warm, there has been some remarkable wine produced in recent years. But in Burgundy in 2019, it got hot.

Both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay like to come to maturity slowly. Too much heat cooks the elegance out of them.  So climate change is an existential issue for Burgundy wine as we know it.

But in 2019 something remarkable happened.  I hesitate to call it a paradigm shift; it may well be a one-off.  But in a year where, in some places, grapes turned to raisins on the vine, Burgundy has given us a vintage worthy of the hyperbole.

You won’t find many lacey, delicate wines this year.  The vintage will be unapologetically bold and unbelievably concentrated. The whites are indulgent, often explosive, and pinned to a mind-bogglingly good acidic framework, given the summer heat.  The reds are sophisticated and elegant, alive.

Perhaps most tellingly, despite the hot summer, this was not one of those late-August harvests that we’re getting accustomed to.  The harvest got underway in the Cote de Beaune on 12 September.  And some in the Cote de Nuits did not begin picking until the 23rd. The fruit was ripe earlier, but the fine conditions allowed the growers to wait for the holy grail: phenolic maturity.

You rarely get fruit maturity (the sugar part of the equation) plus phenolic maturity (the tannins in the pips and stems) coming together at the same time. Usually you sacrifice one for the other.  You can’t force it to happen. Nature bestows it upon you.  But when it does happen, that, almost by definition, is a great vintage.

2019 will be a great vintage.  Think 2018 with more energy. The only downside is that, as opposed to the bumper crop we saw in 2018, 2019 was a small crop.  Down by as much as 60% in the southern zones where it was hottest.

Let’s look quickly at how the season developed.  The winter 2018/19 was mild, with higher than average temperatures in December and February.  There was a lot of rain in December which many claim could ultimately have saved the vintage from the summer’s drought.

Spring was warm and the growth cycle started earlier than usual. There were precocious zones with bud burst in early April.  But cold weather set in on 5 April with frost in many areas. Frost damage would have an effect on yields, particularly in the Maconnais. The cold weather held on through mid-April with several consequential frost risks.

Warm weather returned in May and remained until early June when temperatures dropped again, slowing growth again and hindering flowering. There was a good bit of flower abortion (millerandage), which, again, took its part of the yield at harvest.

Then mid-summer was hot-hot  And dry-dry. The vines, for the most part, were in good shape going into the heat wave, but the stress was excessive.  Vines handled the conditions differently from one plot to the next. Consensus is that old vines, with their deep roots, were able to find water in the subsoil.  And that younger, well-tended vines, had a similar advantage.  Vines with roots that went looking for water near the surface, however, suffered towards the end of the season, as they scorched and shriveled.

There was just a bit of rain in August, and from then on through September was hot but fine. In certain areas Pinot Noir ripened before Chardonnay, so harvest planning was complicated. The first Cremant vineyards were picked at the very end of August, and the harvest continued through to mid-October.

Harvest was a joy for the most part.  Good weather.  No disease. And the fruit that survived frost and fire was beautiful. Fermentation in both white and red went off easily.  Whites finished slowly, gently, giving balance and purity. The length of red fermentation varied a lot, but the tannins are fine and the wine has vigor.

Appellation

SANTENAY

COTE DE BEAUNE

Santenay lies at the southern extremity of the Côte de Beaune. In days gone by it was a well-known spa town. Today there is still water around: the area is bordered by the Canal du Centre, and on the other side of the water is the department of Saone et Loire and the first vines of the Cote Chalonnaise'. The wines of Santenay and neighboring Remigny present discernible differences according to which part of the appellation they come from. If you use the windmill up the slope in premier cru Beauregard as a point of reference, the hills behind rise sharply, and the soil make-up and expositions become complex as the hillside spreads out. Seen from up there, the village of Santenay sits in a valley with hills rising on both sides.

Produced in the communes of Santenay and Remigny, appellation Santenay includes 11 premiers crus.

Wines

Santenay produces mainly red wine, though the whites, especially the premiers crus, can be remarkable. Color should be a dark brilliant black-cherry. The bouquet is floral up front, with red fruits and a hint of liquorice. The attack is deep and intense, with firm but discreet tannins and body that is supple and fine-textured. Old style Santenay was considered rustic, but the present generation has learned to deal with tannins. White Santenayshould be brilliant greeny gold, mineral and floral and fresh. It can be grassy and nutty, and has a minerality that carries freshness to a long finish.

Terroirs

Greyish limestone makes up the high ground up to a height of 500 meters. Lower down the slope, starting at the 300 meter line, is oolitic limestone, white oolite, marls, kidney-shaped limestone, and lower oolite on a layer of marl. The location of the vineyards is ideal with exposures between east and south.

Color

Nearly all reds - Pinot Noir

White wines - Chardonnay

Production surface area

1 hectare (ha) = 2.4 acres

Reds : 282.35 ha (including 110.84 ha premier cru)

Whites : 46.96 ha (including 12.63 ha premier cru)

Food

The supple and intense attack of Santenay red, and its aromatic register make it a match for slow-cooked dishes like braised veal or beef, to which its tannins will lend structure without being aggressive. Glazed or roasted poultry would also work, as would grilled or barbecued meats. As for cheese, Brie de Meaux, Pont-l'Evêque, Cîteaux, Reblochon, most any cheese really will work with the density and tannic structure.

White Santenay, with its lightness, vivacity and edge would be a good choice for fluid and melty dishes like fish couscous, or pasta or risotto with mushrooms. Poultry in cream sauce would be similarly successful. It works well with cheeses like Comté and Beaufort, as well as goat cheeses.

Appellations

On the label, the appellations 'Santenay' and 'Santenay 1er Cru' may be followed by the name of a specific vineyard, known as a climat.

The following climats are classified as premier cru:

Beauregard

Beaurepaire

Clos de Tavannes

Clos des Mouches

Clos Faubard

Clos Rousseau

Grand Clos Rousseau

La Comme

La Maladière

Les Gravières

Les Gravières-Clos de Tavannes

Passetemps

The following climats are village wines from a single vineyard, known as a lieu-dit:

Bellefon

Bieveaux

Botaveau

Clos Genet

Comme Dessus

Croix Sorine

Derrière les Crais

En Aiguisey

En Boichot

En Charron

En Foulot

En Gatsulard

La Cassière

La Comme

La Plice

Le Chainey

Le Haut Village

Le Village

Les Brâs

Les Champs Claudes

Les Charmes Dessous

Les Charmes Dessus

Les Cornières

Les Crais

Les Hâtes

Les Pérolles

Les Potets

Les Prarons-Dessous

Les Prarons-Dessus

Les Saunières

Les Vaux Dessus

Saint-Jean

Sous la Fée

Sous la Roche

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