HISTORY The team at Remoissenet wears two hats: one, as a high-quality, small-batch négociant, cultivating close relationships with vine-growers up and down the Côte; and two, as a vine-growing estate, with select vineyards, the majority of which are located in Beaune and Gevrey-Chambertin, cared for according to biodynamic principles.
The estate works with its vine-growers in a fashion not usual for France: grapes are purchased not by quantity but by quality, with bonuses offered if quality is exceptional. This ensures that Remoissenet gets the finest grapes, regardless of vintage. At harvest, three sorting tables are used (not to mention hundreds of hands) to ensure only the most pristine fruit makes its way into the cellar.
Winemaking is philosophically non-interventionist, with winemaker Claudie Jobard preferring to “let the grapes speak” as clearly as possible. Reds are fermented on indigenous yeasts in open-top fermenters and aged in larger French oak barrels (350L). The percentage of new French oak barrels depends on the cru and the vintage, with up to 30 percent new wood for villages wines; from 30 to 70 percent for premier crus; and from 70 to 100 percent for grand cru wines. Reds are neither fined nor filtered.
Whites are pressed gently in a pneumatic press and fermented on indigenous yeasts. Barrel aging, depending on vintage and cru, ranges from 30 percent new wood for villages wines to 100 percent for grand cru wines.
VINEYARDS & WINEMAKING
The southernmost vineyard in Santenay, at the border with the village of Maranges, ‘Grand Clos Rousseau’ occupies the upper portion of the larger ‘Clos Rousseau’ vineyard. Soils are mostly decomposed white limestone, very mineral. Flavors suggest red fruit, baking spices; tannins are earthy, smooth.
Aromas of red berries, light spice, earth. Flavors suggest red fruit, baking spices; tannins are earthy, smooth.
