Jadot Marsannay Clos du Roy Rouge 2017, Burgundy, France

Marsannay is the northernmost commune of the Cote d’Or, lying virtually on the outskirts of the city of Dijon, three miles north of Gevrey-Chambertin and one mile north of Fixin. Jadot acquired 19 acres in Marsannay with the 1985 purchase of the famous Domaine Clair Dau. Jadot’s Marsannay red resembles delicate, straightforward Gevery-Chambertin. The grapes are destemmed and crushed and allowed to macerate for up to a week with the skins to draw forth color and extract. Fermentation on the skins, again in casks used for the same wine vintage to vintage, takes place over twenty to thirty days at temperature several degrees above what most producers consider prudent, but which extracts an extra measure of color, depth and concentration in the wine. The must is “pigé,” or agitated, but not pumped over, twice daily; this retains a higher degree of oxygen to nourish the yeasts and lengthens the fermentation. In some vintages, malolactic fermentation is suspended for a period of a few months to fix the color and aromas. After a period of eighteen to twenty-two months’ aging in oak, again with never more than thirty percent new casks, the final blend is assembled and bottled. This wine receives neither fining nor filtration.