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Domaine Michel Sarrazin, Maranges Rouge

Burgundy, France 2015 (750mL)
$32.00
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Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol
SommSelect

Domaine Michel Sarrazin, Maranges Rouge

Established SommSelect subscribers know that we’re all about working the fringes when it comes to buying Burgundy. There’s no other way to do it, really—the “prestige” appellations in Côte de Nuits/Côte de Beaune continue to command higher and higher prices, and, as we’ve noted countless times in this space, the differences in wine quality between two neighboring villages are often way more subtle than the differences in price.
This wine is from Maranges, the southernmost wine village in the Côte de Beaune and the gateway to the Côte Chalonnaise—the Burgundy equivalent of leaving Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge. I make a point of seeking out the wines of Domaine Michel Sarrazin year after year; they’ve become a go-to source of value not just from Maranges but from Côte Chalonnaise appellations such as Givry and Mercurey as well. Their Maranges, always a standout, is especially over-achieving in the celebrated 2015 vintage—a reliably bright, peppery, floral Pinot Noir was rendered fruitier and rounder in 2015, delivering more early-drinking pleasure without losing its nerve. There’s a tremendous amount of perfume and refinement here for the money, which is always what we’re after—regardless of which village we’re in.
The Sarrazins, for their part, are in the tiny village of Jamblès, within the appellation of Givry. Brothers Guy and Jean-Yves Sarrazin have run the domaine since the mid-1990s, and in that time they have raised their own profile along with those of the lesser-known villages they showcase (Givry, Rully, Mercurey, Maranges). The family farms all of their holdings with the methodology known as lutte raisonnée (“the reasoned fight”) which eschews herbicides, pesticides and practices organic principles unless a serious emergency arises in a difficult vintage. Their Maranges bottling is derived from vines that are a minimum of 25 years old, at elevations of about 750 feet in the villages of Dezize-lès-Maranges and Sampigny-lès-Maranges. Soils are a dense chalk with smaller amounts of clay, while expositions are predominantly south/southwest.

For this bottling, grapes were harvested by hand and fermented with only indigenous yeasts in climate-controlled stainless steel. The wine was aged in roughly 50% new Francois Frères oak barrels for 12 months, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Although reds from the likes of Maranges and neighboring Santenay tend to be like “mini-Volnays”—lighter, brighter, and more peppery, though similarly red-fruited—2015 lent this Maranges an extra bass note of darker-toned fruit and acid-taming extract. It is quite enjoyable to drink now, and while it is blessed with some extra size, that’s still a relative concept—it’s built for short-term aging, about 3-5 years.

In the glass, Sarrazin’s 2015 Maranges has a deep ruby core with light garnet reflections on the rim. The generous nose offers more fruit than we have come to expect from the appellation, with a bounty of black raspberry, red plum and black cherry fruit laced with a perfumed bouquet of violets, rose petals, wild mushroom, forest floor, a hint of truffle and anise. It is medium-bodied and refreshing on the palate, showing its fruity depth but finishing with a taut, mineral grip. Thanks to the sun-kissed vintage, this wine has already begun to blossom and will charm after an hour of air in the bottle. Pour in Burgundy stems and serve at 60-65 degrees alongside this Lyonnaise recipe for Rabbit Stew—it’s a versatile red with a hint of rusticity that will continue to charm (and improve) throughout the coming summer and beyond.
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Country
France
Region
Burgundy
Sub-Region
FranceMaranges
Soil
Clay & Limestone
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Pinot Noir
Alcohol
13.5
OAK
50% New French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2022
Decanting
Optional
Pairing
Rabbit Stew

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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