Vinelights
Secret Status. Serious Style.
This tiny parcel sits just below A.F. Gros’s 1er Cru Clos des Guettes and until 2022, it was part of the same cuvée. But thanks to an old classification map, the bottom 0.20ha was reclassified as outside the appellation, making it technically vin de France. The solution? Bottle it separately, give it Mathias’s name, and let the wine speak for itself. It’s all soft cherry, floral perfume and Savigny finesse, with low tannins, a juicy core, and more charm than it has any legal right to. We expect this will make its way back into the Premier Cru bottling in the next vintage or so.
📍 The Plot
Clos des Guettes (or Aux Guettes) sits in Savigny-lès-Beaune, a walled Premier Cru with clay-rich soils and elegant structure. This cuvée comes from the very bottom of the slope, just 0.20ha that fell outside the official cru boundary. Same vineyard. Same care. Just… a bureaucratic quirk. It’s harvested by hand and brought to the winery in under 20 minutes to preserve freshness.
🍇 Technical
100% Pinot Noir, 100% destemmed. Fermentation begins 24 hours after vatting and lasts 10–12 days, with 2–3 pump-overs and 1 délestage daily. Malo-lactic fermentation takes place in barrel. Aged 12–18 months in French oak (30% new), from Chatillonnais and Fontainebleau forests. The result is silky, lifted, and laced with elegance — like a Premier Cru that just doesn’t care what the label says.
