Sophie Cinier 'Le Clos' Bourgogne 2024 - 750ml

Tasting Notes

To the eye, they are richly coloured - crimson at first then, with age, shading towards dark ruby. To the nose they offer at first a basket of small red and black fruits (strawberry, cherry, blackcurrant, bilberry) later evolving into cooked prune, peppery notes, and notes of animal, underbrush, moss and mushroom. They are lively and structured in the mouth with a well-rounded and supple backbone. Tannins and fruit go hand in hand and the chewiness matches the power of the secondary aromas. This wine has volume and flesh- it is, in a word, vinous.

The Bourgogne rouges have an elegant and refined character as well as a light and fluid structure in the mouth. They therefore go with rather delicate dishes that are to some degree aromatic - vegetable salads, meat or poultry tarts, or simmered beef and vegetables (pot-au-feu). Moreover, their delicacy makes them a perfect choice for those who like red wine with fish. Their natural elegance predisposes them towards veal, cold tabouleh, or hard cheeses like Gouda.

About the Wine

The Pinot Noir is a native Burgundian grape which accounts for 40% of total plantings in Bourgogne. It yields handsome, tightly-packed bunches of small, purplish-black grapes which contain a sweet and colourless juice. This illustrious grape is the one from which all the great red wines of Bourgogne are made.

Winery Notes

Sophie Cinier took over the small family estate around Fuissé in the early 2000s (2000). Sophie's family has long-standing ties to the local vineyard: her grandfather's vines (planted in 1941) came back under her control in 1998, allowing her to put the estate back into operation.

Initially, Sophie sold her grapes to merchants, but from 2005 onwards, she began to vinify her first vintages herself (approximately 1,200 bottles). The first winemaking processes took place in the family winery, before gradually building their own facilities. The estate has since increased its surface area and its acquisition of plots, while maintaining an emphasis on quality, plot expression, and manual viticulture.

The estate is located in Fuissé, in the Mâconnais region (Burgundy). The dominant soils are calcareous, stony, with very white (limestone) plateaus particularly in the locality of Vers Crâs where very renowned old vines are located. The exposure is favorable, and the altitude varies according to the plots; local conditions (wind, coolness) are important for ripeness and aromatic tension.

Sophie also buys grapes or must (especially for certain appellations that she does not have in her own vineyard, for example Saint-Véran). 

The style they advocate is that of pure, taut, elegant, terroir-driven white wines with the potential to age. Sophie asserts that Pouilly-Fuissé benefits from aging if the winemaking allows it. She seeks to avoid excessive interventions: no stirring, control of lees, moderate use of new wood.

The estate combines vineyard ownership and trading (purchasing grapes or must to complete the range).