Bourgogne Côte d'Or "Les Vaux" Sans Sulfite Ajouté AOC 2023

A red-fruited Pinot Noir of transparent ruby red, made without any added sulphur and therefore correspondingly pure on the nose: cherry, red forest berries, underpinned by an earthy spice note. At 13.0 % vol., it remains dry, lean and agile.

Domaine Rougeot Père & Fils is located in Meursault in the Côte de Beaune and farms 12.6 hectares with plots in Meursault, Volnay and Pommard. Pierre-Henri Rougeot took over in 2016, ending his father Marc's supermarket-supply business in favour of quality wines. Work is done by hand, with tractors used only minimally. The estate has been organic-certified since 2020, and Demeter conversion has been underway since 2021. Rougeot's credo: "There can be no good wine from bad soil."

Single-varietal Pinot Noir. The grapes are left destemmed... no — they are left whole and ferment spontaneously as whole clusters with their own native yeasts. Aged in 228-litre Burgundy barrels with a low proportion of new oak, in the historic 18th-century cellars once built for the Hospices de Beaune. Sans Sulfite Ajouté means without added sulphur; the wine is also neither fined nor filtered. The diagonally striped label identifies these cuvées.

Juicy and clear, with fine-grained tannin, lively acidity and a salty-mineral finish.

With duck breast cooked pink, coq au vin or braised veal cheeks. Also with briefly seared pheasant, artisanal charcuterie and, lightly chilled, with sautéed wild mushrooms or mushroom risotto.