Domaine des Rouges-Queues
There are iconic names in Burgundy which need no introduction. The names of Romanee-Conti and Montrachet are positively Pavlovian for those who covet fine wines. While these iconic regions may be the pinnacle of wine experience, they are far from affordable or even accessible for those who enjoy wine. Enter the Domaine des Rouges-Queues: young, energetic and motivated to make honest and natural wine from whatever plots they can afford to farm. For Isabelle and Jean-Yves Vantay, this meant starting small. In 1996, they purchased their domaine in the newly-appellate Maranges, located beyond the southern reaches of Santenay. While they refurbished the old farmhouse and winery, flocks of “rouge-queues' ' or “red tail” birds circled overhead, giving a name to the domaine that produced its first vintage in 1998. As so often happens in high-value locations, young vigneron are forced to look even further into surrounding growing areas. In this case, that meant expanding their holdings into the Haut-Côtes-de-Beaune, higher astride the Burgundian slope. The Vantays have also joined the next generation of vignerons growing Gamay in outer reaches of the Coteaux Bourguignons. Their dedication to both organic and biodynamic practices in the vineyards translate into honest, compelling results. These are wines free of intervention or artifice, telling stories only of Burgundian soil and the hot sun on struggling grapevines, horse-plowed vineyards, and a team of friends gathering in fall to hand-harvest the literal fruits of their labor.
Each of these three wines in this offer has a distinct personality, and while all three are ready to drink now, there is a definite hierarchy of age-worthiness in the trio. We present them in the order of lightest and simplest (a relative term in this region) into the most concentrated, robust, and worthy of age. One to drink tonight, one to drink in two to three years, and one built for cellaring.
One of the rarer wines from Burgundy, this 100% Gamay from the area directly outside the geographical delimitations of Burgundy. Once completely forbidden by the Duke of Burgundy, Gamay is encouraged to be labeled Coteaux Bourguignons. Serving as a gateway drug to the pleasures of Pinot Noir, Rouges-Queues’ Gamay is bright and juicy with all the tanginess of wild cherry, backed by a ripe, velvety mouthfeel that very well may trick you into believing you are drinking cool-vintage Pinot Noir. Drink now, but could also develop with some cellaring.
From the elevated slopes above the prime vineyards in the Cote de Beaune, the Hautes-Cotes were long considered too cold to reliably ripen grapes. With rising temperatures and increasing technological abilities, the real estate has suddenly become a new ground for young vignerons in the region. The Vantays craft soulful wines from this rugged fruit, drawing on their experience farming plots in more serious appellation to bring a sense of depth and personality to the wines. Dark cassis and black cherry notes do the heavy lifting here with support from the herbal notes that often manifest in high altitude wines, here displayed in mint and thyme. Drink now or at the 4-5 year mark.
Maranges “Vignes Blanches” 2019
The sturdiest and most age-worthy of the trio of wines hails from the southernmost appellation in the Cotes de Beaune. Even in its youth, it is clear that this is the wine with the most material and aging potential. The nose opens with impossibly dark Black Forest cherry accented by a chalky mineral streak that calls to mind the unmistakable scent of honest, sun-warmed soil. The wine’s perfume develops after a bit of breathing; the rustic scent of roses and subtle lilac help accentuate the concentrated, soulful texture of the wine. Stolid in its youth, drink now with a heavy decant or at the 5-10 year mark.