2011 Pierre Andre Clos de la Roche

Pierre André is a Burgundy negociant and estate with a long history. It was founded in 1923 by Pierre André, then a 28-year-old with a fledgling Paris-based wine trading company. In 1927 André acquired an estate in Aloxe-Corton and started what would become his life-long passion for the wines of Burgundy. An expert marketer at a time when few saw the point of marketing, André in the 1960s opened a restaurant in Paris to promote his wines. He was soon selling them internationally. Today the company is a combination domaine and negociant and owns about 125 vineyard acres. It also sources grapes from growers in more than 80 appellations. Since 2014 Pierre André has been owned by the negociant Bejot Vins et Terroirs. Pierre André produces a large portfolio of red and white Burgundy from dozens of appellations.

Clos de la Roche is a 41-acre Grand Cru vineyard in the Morey St.-Denis appellation in the Cotes de Nuits, in northern Burgundy. The tiny village of Morey St.-Denis is just south of Gevrey-Chambertin and Clos de Roche is considered the appellation’s most superior Grand Cru. The vineyard’s elevation ranges from 270 to 300 meters, and its soil is extremely rocky with excellent drainage. The soil is largely limestone, and in some places it is barely a foot deep. Writer Clive Coates calls Clos de Roche “the classiest of the Morey Grand Crus.” The largest landholders are Ponsot with 8.35 acres; Dujac, 4.88 acres; and Armand Rousseau, 3.7 acres.

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.