Product information
ABOUT THIS WINE
The wines are fermented using only indigenous yeasts. The whites are fined and lightly filtered. Only one bottling is done per year at the domaine, normally 15 to 18 months after the harvest. The dose of sulfur is low: 20-25 mg/l for the reds and 30-35 mg/l for the whites.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
The Clair family had owned parcels in the area for generations but sold most of their production to négociants. Denis set out to bottle his own wine.
His wife Françoise was born in Saint-Aubin, a neighboring AOP village 2 1/2 miles to the northwest. This is where the Clairs' winery is located. They have a son, Jean-Baptiste, who in 2000 joined the family business to work the vines, and eventually began making their white wines. Today the family owns 15 hectares, including parcels in Santenay and Saint-Aubin.
Most of the Clairs’ 9 hectares of Santenay vines are for reds. These wines, with nearly full destemming and an extended cold maceration, enable the family to achieve plenty of richness while retaining a sense of elegance. The soil here is terre blanche—limestone and crushed limestone, along with some clay, but deeper and with a higher percentage of clay than those of Saint-Aubin. The couple used proceeds from their terrain in Santenay to buy and rent Chardonnay parcels in Saint-Aubin, where they own 5 hectares.
