Domaine Florent Garaudet Les Champs Fulliots Monthelie Premier Cru AOC

Florent’s tiny parcel in Les Champs Fulliot is a viticultural jewel, densely planted with sixty-year-old Pinot Noir, and located in the same cluster of hillside vineyards that includes the great Volnay Premiers Crus Taillepieds and Clos des Chênes.

In the glass, the wine has a limpid, deep ruby red color, which cools to bright fuchsia at the edge. Fresh, insistent Pinot Noir aromas of red fruit and spices, including sundried red cranberries, griotte cherries, fresh latakia, and Piment d’Espelette move in and out of the foreground, sometimes alternating with citrus zest, pomegranate, sage, and cloves, along with fleeting suggestions of walnut oil, morel mushrooms, and cardamom, as the nose evolves over time. On the palate, the wine is elegant, sapid, and firm, with juicy mineral saturated red fruit flavors that echo the nose, all seasoned with fresh sweet herbs, sandalwood, and smoked sea salt. A long-distance runner, this sensational wine always remains taut, transparent, and vibrant as it grows more voluminous and compelling in the glass; the long, harmonious finish promising at least two more decades in a dark cool cellar.