2009 Sylvie Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes

Sylvie Esmonin is the estate formerly known as Domaine Michel Esmonin et Fille, in Gevrey-Chambertin. Sylvie studied oenology in Dijon then worked as a consulting winemaker before returning to the family estate and joining her father in the early 1990s. She owns or leases 20 acres of vineyards with Premier Cru parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin and Volnay. She also has village parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin. Clive Coates writes that “the atmosphere (at the estate) is tidy, competent and quietly confident, the wines suitably more feminine and more elegant when they are young than those of the cousins down the road.”

Côte de Nuits is the northern part of the Côte d’Or and it includes the most famous vineyards and wine communes in the world. There are more Grand Cru appellations in the Côte de Nuits than anywhere else in Burgundy. Of the fourteen communes, or villages in the Côte de Nuits, six produce Grand Cru wines. They are Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St.-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Flagey-Échezeaux and Vosne-Romanee. Some of the vineyards within the Côte de Nuits are tiny, which adds to their prestige. The fabled Grand Cru vineyard La Romanee is barely two square acres. Altogether there are twenty-four Grand Cru vineyards. The region takes its name from the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges. Côtes de Nuits produces mostly reds from Pinot Noir, and the wines have been in demand for centuries. During the 18th century King Louis XIV’s physician recommended that for his health the king only drink wines from Nuits-Saint-Georges. Like most of Burgundy, the soils of the Côte de Nuit can vary greatly from one vineyard to another, though most are a base soil of limestone mixed with clay, gravel and sand.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.