Domaine Alain Jeanniard, Bourgogne, Quintessence Pinot Noir 2022 - 75cl

Most Bourgogne rouge is a producer's overflow — the young vines, the odd corners, whatever falls outside the smarter appellations. Alain Jeanniard does the opposite. For his Quintessence he pulls fruit from the two best plots he owns, some of it off vines pushing fifty years, and declassifies it into a bottle wearing the humblest label in the Côte de Nuits.

Jeanniard farms out of Morey-Saint-Denis, that discreet village wedged between Gevrey and Chambolle, and he works in the modern grower idiom — a portion of whole bunches in the ferment, a gentle hand, nothing overworked. The result reads far closer to a village wine than the word "Bourgogne" would ever let on.

Expect a nose of black cherry and darker berry fruit, a curl of vanilla from the oak, a floral lift underneath. The palate is round and generous, but there's real acidity holding the line — it stops the fruit going soft and gives the finish length you don't expect at this level. Pinot Noir with its edges intact.

This is a weeknight-into-something-better bottle. Open it when you want proper red Burgundy without spending village-and-up money, or when you're introducing someone to the grape and want them to understand why people lose their minds over it. Drinking beautifully now and through 2029.

How to Serve

Serve at 13-14°C — cellar-cool, never room temperature, which flattens the perfume. Burgundy bowls if you have them. No decant needed, though thirty minutes open in the glass rewards patience.

Where to Drink It

Noble Rot in Lamb's Conduit Street, where a grower Burgundy like this is exactly the house language. Planque in Haggerston for the cellar-led crowd. Or pour it at home with the good glasses out.

Food Pairings

Roast chicken with the skin properly crisp is my first instinct here. Failing that, a plate of charcuterie and a hunk of Comté does the wine no disservice at all.