“A gourmand, generous Santenay.” – Wine Advocate

Is how they described earlier vintages of this fresh-off-the-boat allocation. Repeat with me: Santenay Grand Clos Rousseau Premier Cru. What a mouthful!

Located at the southern edge of the bucolic Santenay appellation, Grand Clos Rousseau sits on a steep slope at roughly 1,000 feet above sea level, a rare feat in all of Burgundy, with the hill of Corton being the most renowned amongst great altitudes. It’s essentially the upper section of the larger walled Clos Rousseau vineyard, an ancient Premier Cru site that has recently been resurrected.

As far as QPR goes, it’s hard to top this one, pun intended: a Premier Cru in the upper $50s by one of the best known negociants in the Côte d’Or with a remarkable recent rise in reputation.

According to Vinous, “The transformation that has taken place at Remoissenet over the last handful of years has been truly remarkable. When the Milstein family bought the winery in 2005, Remoissenet was an old-school négociant house with negligible vineyard holdings that mostly bought wines in barrel. Today, the current team led by President Pierre-Antoine Rovani, General Manager Bernie Repolt, Vineyard Manager Fred Le Prince and Winemaker Claudie Jobard have transformed Remoissenet into much more of a Domaine. Farming is directly controlled in most of the key parcels (especially among the reds) through ownership or the métayage and fermage arrangements that are common in Burgundy. That focus on quality is pretty evident. I was deeply impressed with the wines.”

Burgundy Report adds, “Remoissenet Père et Fils, is an old and established name that is slowly and quietly carving out a new name for itself - as a producer of good reds! Founded in 1877, this unusual and interesting company was run for about 30 years by Roland Remoissenet from a stunning 14th-century building in Beaune - externally there is not much to see, but on the inside it’s very special.”

And so is what’s in the bottle. It boasts a superb nose that strides out of the glass with ripe blackberry and raspberry scents. The delightful palate is medium-bodied with impressive depth and structure. This is beautifully balanced with great precision and poise from start to finish. The definitive hidden gem!

No press on this vintage, but a previous vintage is praised by the hard-to-please Burghound, as one “lovely” red with “ripe and fresh aromas of plum that are abundantly infused with spice and pungent earth whiffs. I very much like the mouthfeel of the velvet-textured medium-weight flavors that exhibit fine length on the more harmoniously balanced finale. Worth a look for value and quality.”