Joseph Roty, Marsannay, Au Champ St-Etienne 2019 - 75cl

Marsannay is the Cote de Nuits' best-kept secret, the northernmost village and still without a single premier cru to its name, which keeps prices sane for wines that increasingly don't taste it. Champs St-Etienne is one of its oldest sites; nuns were replanting here back in the 1600s.

In the hands of Joseph Roty, a Gevrey domaine dating to 1710 with some of the oldest vines in Burgundy, Marsannay gets serious treatment. These are the same hands behind grand cru Charmes and Griotte-Chambertin, and the old-vine, late-picking approach carries straight down to the village wines. 2019 was a warm, ripe vintage, and you feel that generosity in the glass straight away.

The nose gives sweet red berries, rose petal and a liquorice edge, with only a discreet touch of oak. The palate is medium to full and satiny, lifted by lively acidity and fine, chalky tannins, precise and mineral through the finish. It's the sort of wine that quietly convinces you Marsannay has been underrated all along. Drinking well now, it has the balance to go another five or six years.

How to Serve

16C in a Burgundy bowl. Give the 2019 half an hour to an hour in a decanter; the ripe vintage has structure that opens out with air.

Where to Drink It

• Wiltons, Jermyn Street: a quietly grand Marsannay for a proper occasion.
• Noble Rot, Soho: a list that appreciates an underrated northern Cote de Nuits.
• Brat, Shoreditch: the fruit and the fire make easy company.

Food Pairings

Duck with a cherry or blackberry sauce plays straight into the fruit. Or keep it simple with roast guinea fowl.