Lucien Muzard Santenay Champs Claude Vieilles Vignes 2023

Nine generations of Muzards precede Claude and Hervé, who run Domaine Lucien Muzard today. The family can trace its roots in Santenay back to 1645, but until the two brothers took over from their father Lucien in 1995 the fruit was sold to négociants rather than bottled at the estate.

Eighteen hectares are farmed in all, 14.4 of Pinot Noir and 3.6 of Chardonnay, across Santenay, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault, Pommard and Bourgogne. The premier cru holdings in Santenay are the heart of it: Clos Faubard, Maladière and Clos de Tavannes, with Meursault Les Crotots and Les Meix Chavaux and Pommard Les Cras alongside. Around 85 per cent of production is red, though the whites are gaining ground as premier cru parcels in Santenay are replanted to Chardonnay.

Santenay sits where the Côte d'Or turns the corner towards Maranges, on a complex series of geological faults with a great deal of limestone showing through, which is why white wine has more potential here than the village's reputation suggests. Picking is by hand, reds are fermented with 30 to 40 per cent whole bunches on natural yeasts and worked gently by pumping over, then aged in oak of up to 30 per cent new and increasingly in larger formats. Whites are whole-bunch pressed and fermented on natural yeasts. The vineyards are farmed organically though not certified, having been certified biodynamic until 2012. About 8,000 dozen a year.