2021 Santenay Cuvée S

For some reason, my laptop decides to join French refinery workers and go on strike during my tasting chez Moreau in Santenay. What does it want? Higher pay? Once I negotiate a restart, I head back down to his small cellar to taste through a splendid set of 2021s. “We started picking on 22 September,” Moreau begins. “We picked later to make sure the fruit was ripe. In some frozen vintages like 2016, you have bunches that ripen later, but even secondary buds didn’t really develop. We tried to get nice tannins and fresh fruit but did not seek strong wines in 2021. So we did a gentle extraction and maintained the bright acidity. Yields are 20 to 25hL/ha. This year, we were more prudent with oak, 15-25% new, with a maximum of 5% whole bunches.” There are some delightful wines from one of Santenay’s finest vignerons, crisp fruit, lively and tensile, each expressive of their terroirs. My picks are the two Santenay Premiers – Clos Rousseau and Beauregard, each that oxymoron – affordable Burgundy.