Cote de Nuits Villages

Whether red or white, this is the wine King Henri IV had in mind to go with the Sunday chicken he wished every family in France to enjoy. It is as accessible as it is amiable, honest and straightforward in taste.

The red, which has the gleaming crimson highlights of the Pinot grape, veers sometimes towards an intense garnet hue or, when young, a bright cherry. Its aromas run a classic spectrum through cherry, gooseberry and blackcurrant to notes of underbrush, mushroom and spices (cinnamon). This is a big-hearted wine, powerful in the mouth, full and meaty, and its tannins (more conspicuously present in the younger wines) are well smoothed down.

The white is pale gold in colour or sometimes a little darker. The fragrance is of white flowers (acacia, may) mixed with plum. When older, ripe apple, fig, pear or quince appears, as well as some spicy notes. Lively and clean, it has both energy and elegance while nevertheless remaining direct in its expression and unfaultingly likeable.