Comte Senard Les Champs Longs Chorey-Les-Beaune Burgundy 2018

Comte Senard has a rare origin story for a Burgundy producer.  Jules Senard established the winery in 1857 in conjunction with creating the monopole Corton-Clos des Meix.  A wine monopole refers to a vineyard or a specific plot of land exclusively owned by a single winery.  Due to French inheritance laws founded during the Napoleonic era, most vineyards are divided amongst multiple producers (in some cases, with over 24 producers owning single rows), so the 50 monopoles stand out for their exclusive rights to produce wine from a monopole.  Comte Senard proudly carries forward a legacy that spans five generations, and in the centuries since Jules’s leadership, they have acquired 16 additional acres of prestigious growing sites.

While most of their holdings lie within the Corton and Aloxe-Corton appellations of Burgundy, today’s wine hails from just over the designated border into the Chorey-les-Beaune village.  Located just south, the vineyards here rest on the valley floor, just below the prized parcels on the slopes of Corton.  Chorey-les-Beaune is known for its red wines, with almost 90% of its production being Pinot Noir.  The grapes see less sunshine at the lower elevation than those planted on the hillsides and, therefore, maintain higher acidity and produce lighter-bodied reds.  From vine to bottle, the winemaking process is meticulously executed. The 25-year-old vines, nurtured through biodynamic farming practices, produce grapes of exceptional quality. Each cluster is hand-harvested and carefully sorted in the vineyard and again in the winery, ensuring that only the finest fruit reaches the cellar.

At the helm of winemaking since 2005 is Lorraine Senard (Jules’ great-great-granddaughter.)  She works with a small, dedicated team that includes her father, Philippe, as Owner, and her brother, Mathieu, as Sales Manager.  Under Lorraine’s stewardship, Comte Senard has steered toward more environmentally sustainable practices like eliminating herbicides and pesticides and using biosphere-beneficial cover crops.  As each vintage brings its own set of challenges, however, Lorraine opts for adaptable techniques versus a dogma for her winemaking, making choices based on the state of the vines, the fruit, and the growing conditions to glean the utmost desirable yet terroir-driven characteristics from each wine.   

Following a three-day pre-fermentation soak, the grapes fermented as whole clusters, enhancing the extraction of tannins and color from the skins.  Aged for 14 months in 40% new French oak, the wine developed a refined character while maintaining the true expression of the fruit.  Unfined and unfiltered, it embodies the natural essence of the Les Champs Longs vineyard.  Lorraine’s tasting notes highlight a bouquet that reveals enticing “aromas of raspberry, Morello cherry and blackberry set off by notes of licorice, underbrush and leather.  Well-rounded structure leaves an aftertaste of fruit and elegant tannins on the palate.”