I don’t write much about Burgundy—that’s Ian Cauble’s beat—but every so often a wine like this Santenay comes along and prompts me to pipe up.
Like all sommeliers, I love Burgundy (especially when someone else is paying). But there are some wine geeks out there for whom Burgundy is the end-all-be-all, the standard by which all other wine should be judged. I don’t fall in that camp, but then I dip my nose into a glass of today’s 2017 and…well…okay, I see what you mean. We sampled Chapelle’s “Clos des Cornières” amidst a diverse assortment of wines from all over the world, and it was the wine-tasting equivalent of a star NBA player deciding to take over the game in the 4th quarter. Every so often, I need to be reminded that Burgundy is still the Pinot Noir mountaintop, and it only took a $45 Santenay to do it! We were diligently tasting our way through a bunch of wines and this one came along and effectively ended the discussion. Do you see what I’m getting at here? This is the real deal!
Domaine Chapelle’s West Coast importer used a fantastic term to describe this ’17 and Santenay reds in general: “lacy elegance.” Located at the southern tip of Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune, right after Chardonnay strongholds like Puligny- and Chassagne-Montrachet, Santenay is nevertheless a Pinot Noir-focused appellation. The wines have always been characterized by a kind of feathery finesse, but as the planet warms, wines that may have been considered a touch thin in the past have added a little welcome mid-palate weight. Nevertheless, this is some of the prettiest Burgundy Pinot Noir you can drink, especially when it hails from a premier vineyard like Chapelle’s “Clos des Cornières”—a 4.5-hectare monopole (sole ownership) first planted in 1970.
The Chapelle family goes way back in Santenay; proprietors Jean-François and Yvette Chapelle, recently joined by their son, Simon, are the fourth (and fifth) generation to farm vineyards here. Perhaps the most noteworthy development at the property in the modern era was the successful conversion of the estate’s 20 hectares to organic viticulture, which was completed in 2006 and certified in 2009. The Clos des Cornières site contains a fair amount of sand along with clay and limestone, which may help explain its very fine-grained, almost silky tannins. The Chapelles fully de-stem their hand-harvested grapes and age their finished wines in mostly neutral barrels, which results in a wine of wonderful clarity. The fruit component is so unmistakably “Pinot Noir” it is striking—and delicious.
In the glass, the 2017 Clos des Cornières shows the ripeness of a generous vintage but also a kind of weightlessness typical of the best Santenays. It shows a translucent ruby color in the glass and a seductive nose with enough ripe fruit to trick you into thinking you’re in Oregon: red cherries and plums, raspberries, violets, pekoe tea. Take a sip and you’re decidedly back in Burgundy, as the medium-weight wine shows a firm backbone and mineral, earthy notes of underbrush and black pepper. There’s a hint of dusty earth and spice that will soften with about an hour in a decanter or time in the cellar, and while it probably won’t happen, I’d be fascinated to encounter this bottle in five years. It is going to be one mesmerizing Pinot Noir. Serve this delicate beauty at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems and pair it with chicken, pork, or maybe a pasta dressed with fresh morels (now’s the time!). That is going to happen for me, and likely soon! Enjoy!
