2021 Bourgogne Rouge

Located in Saint-Aubin, Fornerot might be one of its less well-known vignerons, but his wines do the talking. Much of his fruit has historically been sold to négociants, though he plans to sell less fruit and focus on his own Domaine bottlings with a new winery on the cusp of completion. Because of the depleted volumes, he sold off no fruit in 2021, though the large crop in 2022 meant he did acquiesce and sold some fruit to maintain cash flow. “The reds were hardly frosted, but I lost 70 to 75% of the white Premier Crus and 60% of the white Village Crus,” Fornerot told me in his dining room, whose balcony overlooks a vineyard planted with Pinot Noir that he is considering regrafting with Chardonnay. “The whites were bottled a week ago. I started picking on 25 September over ten days. It was complicated because of the different levels of ripeness caused by the frost. The new cellar will give me more space, and I will be able to do a longer élevage, but building work has been delayed. The fermentation was longer for the Santenay and the Hautes Côtes, although it was much quicker generally for the 2022s, which kind of squeezes the gap between vintages together.” These are impressive wines, and though I was not as taken by the La Chatenière as Fornerot, I did find excellence within the Les Murgers des Dents de Chien and En Remilly. Keep an eye out because this Domaine is going places.