2017 - Marsannay Longeroies Rouge, Sylvain Pataille

From a parcel in the Bas des Longeroies, Pataille's 2017 Marsannay Les Longeroies delivers a beautiful bouquet of rose petals, peonies, blood orange, red plums and raspberries. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, supple and voluminous, with an ample and layered core of fruit that entirely conceals the wine's powdery structuring tannins. This is one of the fleshier wines in the range.

The 2017 Marsannay Les Longeroies contains 100% whole bunch fruit. It has a more introverted bouquet that requires more coaxing from the glass, reluctantly offering blackberry and briar aromas and a touch of pressed flower. The palate is medium-bodied, the whole bunch neatly integrated into fruit that turns more black toward the finish. There is a touch of graphite on the aftertaste. One of Pataille's more intellectual offerings, and one that I believe has something up its sleeve.

100% Pinot Noir. Harvest 6 September. Maceration/ malolactic fermentation three weeks, no sulphites, indigenous yeast, 100% whole-bunch. 18 months in cask. Bottled 4 March 2019. Closure: natural cork. TA 3.45 g/l, pH 3.70, RS <2 g/l, SO2 total 25 ppm, SO2 free 5 ppm. Not even The Wine Society can resist the upward shift of Burgundy prices. But Sylvain Pataille is well worth following, and this is a particularly approachable vintage. Quite a deep garnet. Rich nose that is so much more complex than most non-burgundy Pinots. Lovely freshness on the end. Very flattering. And in a burgundian context you have to say that this is GV. (JR)