This is Marsannay with gravitas, a wine that arrives like a conversation with an old friend who’s travelled every road but remains grounded. From village-divide vineyards in Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits, Joseph Roty’s 2020 “Au Champ St-Etienne” is Pinot Noir at its most thoughtful and inviting. Bright ruby in the glass, it opens with red cherry, wild strawberry and a touch of violet earthiness that only place can give. The palate is broad and layered: fleshy yet refined, polished tannins carrying notes of dark fruit, underpinned by mineral undertow and completing with a long, well-balanced, classy finish. This is the sort of bottle you pour when the company is smart, the food is slow-cooked, and the stories unfold just like the wine, layer by layered, rich by revelation.