You could say Red Burgundy is a core region for us, because it is. From humble Bourgogne Rouge that over delivers, to the soaring, world class Grand Crus, we search high and low for the best representations from this ancient wine region. But today’s discovery is in a category that is truly unique. Yes, it checks off all the important boxes: It’s a delicious, terroir transparent expression of Pinot; it is made by a small, family owned estate; it is farmed and produced with respect to tradition and nature; but, it also hails from a special, single vineyard that is a literal living museum of Burgundian viticulture. “Les Mont Battois” sits just above Savigny-les-Beaune, and is owned by GEST (more on them later), who operates this little vineyard as an historical nursery and research lab for all the ancient, heirloom grape varieties of Burgundy. And to make the wine they partner with the Camp brothers, an über talented duo of biodynamic vigneron in the region. The result: A pitch-perfect Pinot Noir produced from grapes that are a direct genetic through line to the origins of this world famous wine.

GEST is a French acronym that can be roughly translated to mean “Group to Study and Monitor Terroir.” It’s a uniquely French organization that is a hybrid of science, history, and fine wine appreciation. For many years now they have maintained a vineyard that is perched on the top of the hill overlooking Beaune for the express purpose of growing and studying the heirloom grape varieties and clones including the family of vines known as “Noiriens” which is where all the Pinot varieties (Noir, Meunier, Gris, Blanc, etc.) originate from, and the family known as “Gouais” which were crossed with the Noiriens to produce such famous mainstays as Chardonnay and Gamay. It is a fascinating and noble project, but of course they can’t simply study the vines and the grapes, they need to make some wine too!

In order to transfer this living museum into actual wine in the bottle the GEST team has partnered with the small, family domaine of Camp-Atthalin. This estate was established very recently, when the Camp brothers–Jean-Philippe and Jean-Edouard–combined a few parcels of vines from family holdings to make a new estate. From the very beginning they were all in on biodynamics, both in the vineyard and cellars, and they’ve been producing excellent, terroir transparent wines from their home base in Savigny-les-Beaune ever since. Given their location, and their “nature first” philosophy they were the perfect fit for transforming the heirloom vines of the “Mont Battois” vineyard into a delicious, throwback Red Burgundy that allows us, the lucky few, to taste what wine in this world renowned region might have tasted like centuries ago.

Although “Mont Battois” is planted with dozens and dozens of heirloom varieties, the Camp brothers focus on just the clones of Pinot Noir to make the “Hautes-Côtes de Beaune” according to present day appellation rules. The grapes are hand harvested, and then fermented in stainless steel tanks with native yeasts before being transferred to mostly neutral French oak barriques for about a year of aging. Serve “Les Mont Battois” in nice Burgundy bowls at a cool cellar temperature of 55-60 degrees in order to emphasize the silky, sappy fruit and crisp minerality. The warm, dry summer of 2022 led to very healthy clusters and the ripeness of the vintage is readily apparent in the deep garnet color, while the hints of pink at the rim point to the wine's youthful freshness. A classic bouquet of red and black cherries, pomegranate, dried roses and violets, baking spice, espresso, and damp earth are woven around a silky textured, medium bodied frame with bright acidity, saline minerals, and fine grained tannins that finish with a flourish of wild herbs–no doubt attributed to the ancient, heirloom clones of Pinot Noir. Serve with rustic grilled meats or richly flavored seafood dishes and you’ll enjoy a meal of historic proportions!