The wines of Domaine Arnoux come with the classic Burgundian family pedigree: Fourth-generation proprietor Pascal Arnoux studied at the Lycée Viticole in Beaune and worked for his uncles for nearly 20 years before taking charge of the domaine in 2007. Based in the village of Chorey-lès-Beaune, the estate’s vineyard holdings cover 20 hectares in the appellations of Chorey-lès-Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Beaune and Corton, with the Bourgogne-level bottling hailing from a few hectares of 15- to 25-year-old estate vines in Chorey.

Taking advantage of an excellent vintage in ’17—and, after several hail-shortened harvests, the first year in a while to produce both quality and quantity—Arnoux hand-harvested the fruit for this wine and incorporated roughly 25% whole clusters in the fermentation. It was aged only in tank before release and shows an exuberant fruit component right out of the gate: There’s enough concentration and complexity here to fool you into thinking you’re drinking a more-expensive wine, which, as I said above, is the whole point! In the glass, it’s a medium ruby-red moving to accents of pink at the rim, with deep and seductive aromas of crushed black cherry, redcurrant, strawberry, violet, black pepper, underbrush, and baking spices. The fruit component is nicely concentrated but there’s also great freshness and a little nibble of tannin lending it backbone and nerve. I know I’ll be very happy to have this around to re-visit now and again over the next 3-5 years, provided I don’t drink it all up sooner: With 30 minutes in a decanter this is a delicious wine to drink now, so don’t hesitate to pull some corks and get this into some Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees. As befits this kind of “pantry staple” of a wine, it’ll pair seamlessly with a wide variety of dishes: from roast chicken to braised beef with many stops in between. Check out the timeless recipe attached courtesy of the late Anthony Bourdain. I could do this every day!