Côte Rôtie,

Bernard Burgaud, though he has several plots of land dotted around the appellation, only makes one cuvée, affirming that an assemblage of Côte Rôtie is something greater than its single vineyard parts. He destalks all of the grapes before vinification so that, as can often happen, the wine doesn’t prematurely dry out and leave behind a rather nasty green edge. Instead, he preferes to gain colour, extract and flavour from extended grape skin maceration. Furthermore, his thrifty use of new oak (never more than 20%) serves to expose the character of grape and terroir whilst also ensuring a degree of refinement leading to a Côte Rôtie that is packed with exuberant, wild forest fruit flavours tamed by a tightly packed network of tannin.