Saint Aubin 1er Cru Rouge Les Perrieres 2020, Domaine Patrick Miolane

The Les Perrieres plot is to the rear of the estate and faces south, where the vines are nearing nearly 50 years of age.

The grapes are harvested manually into wooden crates. They are sorted on a vibrating table (to remove dry berries, leaf debris, stalks, etc.), then on a conveyor belt (to remove unripe grapes and grapes affected by rot or other fungal diseases). The sound grapes are only then pressed to facilitate the extraction of colour and flavours. Fermentation begins slowly, using native yeasts and continues for between 15 and 20 days. The wine is then aged in barrels for a lengthy period of three years.

The good breeding of this premier cru wine is immediately apparent. In colour, it is deep, intense red.  The nose is characterised by a complex mix of red fruit aromas. On the palate, it is elegant, subtle, ethereal, with a lingering mineral finish. Like all great wines, it leaves a very distinctive signature.

For the more adventurous, the fine, delicate texture of this wine might suggest a pairing with fish, but it also goes perfectly with Burgundian cheeses, such as Soumaintrain and Époisses.

The Miolane estate consists of nine hectares of vineyards at Saint-Aubin, a village in the prestigious Côte des Blancs area.

Operations are run by Patrick, a larger-than-life character who loves a good joke, and his dynamic, forward-looking daughter, Barbara. They make a perfect pair, each responsible for their own sphere of activity: Dad looks after the vineyard; Barbara is in charge of the wine-making and marketing.

The estate produces fourteen Saint-Aubin, Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet appellations, including premier cru, villages and regional wines. The whites very much reflect the local growing conditions (the terroir), in particular the mineral quality of the soil. Where reds are concerned, the estate boasts a number of pinot noir wines which are aged for a long time and allowed to mature slowly. They are rich in red-berry-fruit flavours, with finely structured tannins.