Edouard Delaunay Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Charmont Rouge 2022

	Elegant Pinot from the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits
	Matured in 20% new oak barrels
	Delicious with beef bourguignon

Description

After a long and successful winemaking career in California and the Languedoc, Laurent Delaunay was finally able to return to his roots in 2017 and repurchase his great-grandfather Edouard Delaunay's estate, restoring it to its former glory. Since then, he has dedicated himself to producing top-quality Burgundies, from surprising villages to superior Grands Crus.

This delicious Charmont can be considered the house's calling card. If only because the wine bears the name of the Château where the Delaunay family decided to settle in 1954: Château de Charmont in l'Etang-Vergy in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. With its elevated, relatively cool vineyards, located a stone's throw from the Grands Crus and boasting similar soil composition, Laurent Delaunay believes this region – given the current climate changes – could very well be the future of Burgundy.

It's his job, as a true Bourguignon—just like the monks of the Middle Ages—to bring these beautiful Burgundy terroirs to wine lovers worldwide. He harvests the Pinot grapes for the red Charmont, among other places, in Les Dames Huguettes, which overlooks Nuits-Saint-Georges; on the hills of Villars-Fontaine, which lies at the same latitude as Vosne-Romanée; and in plots in Curtil-Vergy, opposite his own Château de Charmont.

Once hand-picked, the grapes from the various plots are vinified separately. After fermentation, the wines are aged for fourteen months in oak barrels, 20% of which are new. At the end of aging, Laurent selects the barrels that, in his opinion, best reflect a typical Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. These wines are blended to create the final wine.

And what a wine! The Charmont is a particularly charming red Burgundy, with juicy red fruit, elegant, fresh acidity, and a noticeable hint of oak aging. It's delicious now, but it can certainly age further in the bottle. Best served at the table, for example, with a classic beef bourguignon.