Saint-Romain rouge "Sous Roche" AOC 2022

The Saint-Romain rouge "Sous Roche" AOC 2022 is a dry Pinot Noir of fairly transparent purple-red colour. On the nose it stays restrained, almost shy, and decanting does nothing to change that: cherry, raspberry and plum, with a touch of slightly warm puff pastry and warm peat.

The Sous Roche site lies in the eastern part of the Saint-Romain appellation, east-facing, rising up to 350 metres. The soil is limestone, a calcosol on Saint-Romain marl. Henri & Gilles Buisson farm 13 hectares in Saint-Romain, Santenay and Beaune; Henri introduced biodynamic practices in 1990.

Pinot Noir from 60-year-old vines, hand-harvested and partly destemmed. Fermentation begins spontaneously in stainless steel tank, the cap is worked with punch-downs and pump-overs. Malolactic fermentation takes place spontaneously in barrel. Ageing lasts ten to twelve months in barriques of 228, 350 and 500 litres as well as tonneaux, of which no more than 10% are replaced each year. Frédéric Buisson tastes daily and racks the barrels as soon as he judges it useful.

Here the wine opens up and becomes supple. The fruit appears ripe and in places still crisp, with hints of sour cherry. A touch of extract sweetness sits within an overall dry-tasting Pinot Noir, the tannin is firm yet ripe and not too dominant, the acidity clear. Firm-grained, slightly earthy and herb-spiced.

Fined with bentonite, only very lightly filtered. Sulphured only at bottling, with a maximum of 40 to 50 mg/l total sulphite. 13.0% vol.