Volnay-Santenots Premier Cru Sans Sulfite Ajouté AOC 2021

A Pinot Noir with nothing artificial about it: no added sulfites, no fining, no filtration. What remains is the fruit of the terroir in full transparency, carried by a lively acidity. Dry, 13.5% Vol., slender in stature with a clear sense of drive.

Santenots is a Premier Cru climat within the commune of Meursault; its red wines carry the Volnay appellation. The soils are rich in limestone and clay. Domaine Rougeot Père & Fils farms 12.6 hectares with parcels in Meursault, Volnay and Pommard, biodynamically and exclusively by hand in the vineyard; tractors are used only minimally.

100% Pinot Noir. Pierre-Henri Rougeot ferments the grapes as whole, uncrushed clusters, spontaneously with the estate's own yeasts. Ageing takes place in 228-litre Burgundy barrels with a deliberately low proportion of new oak, in 18th-century cellars originally built for the Hospices de Beaune. Sans Sulfite Ajouté is meant literally here: no sulfites are added at any point through to the bottle. The estate's diagonally striped labels mark precisely these wines.

Wild raspberry and morello cherry lead, with violet and a fine spice behind. The tannin is silky and tightly woven, the finish saline and long.

With pink-roasted beef fillet, duck breast with morel sauce or coq au vin. Also with aged Comté and Époisses.

In 2016, Pierre-Henri Rougeot ended the estate's supermarket business to focus on quality wines, biodynamic farming and sulfite-free ageing. Bâtonnage is not practised.