Santenay Les Champs Claude 2023 Domaine Bachey-Legros

The Santenay Les Champs Claudes Vieilles Vignes 2023 from Domaine Bachey-Legros is one of the domaine's most elegant cuvées, drawn from a historic 1.5 hectare parcel planted in two stages, in 1947 and 1954, at the northern edge of Santenay, just below the Premier Cru Morgeot of Chassagne-Montrachet. A vibrant Santenay that whispers across your palate, built in a style at once powerful and mineral, made to age slowly over five to ten years in a typical vintage, and capable of approaching twenty years in the finest ones.

Terroir and vineyard

This 1.5 hectare parcel was planted in two phases, part in 1947 and part in 1954. It sits at the northern boundary of Santenay, directly below the Premier Cru Morgeot appellation of Chassagne-Montrachet. The soils are composed of hard limestone and red clay, a particularly noble geological combination that pairs the mineral tension of limestone with the richness and depth of iron-rich clays. This immediate proximity to Premier Cru Morgeot is significant: the terroir of Champs Claudes shares the same geological matrix as its illustrious neighbours, and produces a Pinot Noir of a depth and minerality that far exceeds what one typically expects from a village Santenay. The old vines, now 70 to 77 years old, deliver very low yields and grapes of incomparable concentration and aromatic expression. Winemaking is precise and minimalist: 4 days cold maceration before fermentation, 13 days of alcoholic fermentation, 6 days post-fermentation maceration. Ageing lasts 14 months: 12 months in barrel on lees without racking, then 2 months in vat, with 100 per cent oak of which 25 per cent is new.

Tasting profile

The colour is a bright ruby red, with good density. The nose reveals fresh fruit aromas in its youth, tender ruby hue, between lively red fruits and delicate spice: notes of strawberry, almond and cherry assert themselves with immediate frankness and elegance, accompanied by a light floral hint of peony and precise, well-defined limestone minerality. In the 2023 vintage, natural freshness brings a particularly striking tension and aromatic vivacity. On the palate, the wine is elegant and dancing, shaped by fine tannins and salivating acidity of remarkable precision. The substance is at once powerful and mineral, with remarkable balance between the generosity of Pinot Noir on red clay and the tension of hard limestone. With age, the aromas will evolve towards wild fruits and forest floor, reaching remarkable complexity and depth. The finish is long, fruited and lightly spiced, with persistence and freshness that confirm this cuvée's ageing potential.

The domaine

Domaine Bachey-Legros is one of the most authentic and principled addresses on the southern Côte de Beaune, founded in the nineteenth century by François Bachey and transmitted without interruption across six generations. Today, Samuel and Lénaïc Legros, alongside their mother Christiane, carry forward with passion and modernity this ancestral philosophy across 19 hectares, 80 per cent of which were planted before 1950. Tim Atkin MW has ranked the domaine among the Top 10 Burgundy producers to watch. The construction of a new winery in 2017 allowed this family trio to transcend even further the magnificent terroirs they tend.

Food pairing

This Santenay Les Champs Claudes Vieilles Vignes will accompany roasted, grilled or marinated red meat. A wine for the hunt by excellence, it pairs with game birds or furred game, partridge with cabbage, roasted pheasant, herb-crusted rack of lamb or duck with cherries. It will also find fine harmony with classic cheeses of moderate flavour such as Époisses or aged Comté. Serve between 16 and 18 °C with 45 minutes of decanting advised in its youth to reveal the full fruited depth and natural minerality of a Santenay from old vines at the foot of Premier Cru Morgeot.