Domaine Désertaux-Ferrand 2005 Tasting Notes

Côte de Nuits-Villages rouge Les Perrières 2002
Côte de Nuits-Villages blanc 2003

Vincent Désertaux, the Côte de Nuits’ ‘Young Winemaker of the Year’ makes our exclusive red burgundy (along with the indispensable help of his sister Christine and wife Geneviève) from hand-picked Pinot Noir grapes from their Les Perrières vineyard. After fermentation in stainless steel the wine is aged in a combination of new oak barrels, one- and two-year-old oak barrels and cement tanks. Each year we join Vincent to taste the previous year’s wine and together we choose the blend that will be bottled for Partners to collect another 12-18 months after that.

This year’s red is from the outstanding 2002 vintage (Seal of Approval at the 2004 International Wine Challenge) when yields were low but quality was high. A hard winter gave way to a warm spring and a cool, dry summer. A little rain fell at the beginning of September before clear skies returned for the harvest. The resulting crop had high levels of natural alcohol and good concentrations of natural sugar. You can drink this wine now with roast pork, lamb chops and hard cheese but it will improve in bottle for a further 3-5 years, developing gamey, savoury - even farmyard - flavours that will happily accompany richer food such as pheasant, wild boar, rabbit and rich beef casseroles.

Our Côte de Nuits blanc 2003 is made from an unusual blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Blanc. A year in oak barrels balances the refreshing citrus/sherbet fruit with smooth nuances of butter and vanilla to produce a wine that you can enjoy by itself or with white meat dishes and many cheeses. The summer of 2003 was very hot and this vintage has lower acidity than in previous years. It also has more tropical fruit flavours and is a delicious yet quite atypical white burgundy.