2015 Marsannay Grasse-Tête

Sylvain Pataille exudes passion, and that is exactly what comes through in these gorgeous wines. Pataille picked his 2015s relatively late for the year, as he chose to wait for the classic 100 days after flowering (one of the traditional parameters used to determine physiological ripeness) before bringing the fruit in. Readers who want to understand the essence of Marsannay and its sites will want to explore this range. All of the single vineyard Marsannays were done with 100% whole clusters, except the Clémengeots, which was done with 50% whole clusters. Some of the whites were difficult to asses because of their recent racking, including the Bourgogne Aligoté Au Vosne aus Pepes, Bourgogne Aligoté Clos du Roi, Bourgogne Aligoté Charmes Aux Petres. I also did not taste the 2015 Marsannay Les Longeroies. Otherwise, this is a truly exceptional set of wines.