Description

Lucien Muzard Maladiere is quite an impressive wine. It sits in the same Côte de Nuits limestone as Faubard. It is also on a steep hill behind the village. It gets plenty of sunshine which means Lucien Muzard Maladiere is both mineral and ripe. Lucien Muzard Maladiere comes off 4.82 hectares of 40+-year-old vines.

Lucien Muzard Maladiere has a great perfume, velvety mouthfeel and plenty of fruit intensity. The older vines add good concentration, and the wine is pleasantly complex. I would drink Lucien Muzard Maladiere Premier Cru Santenay 2014 over the next 5 years. Match Lucien Muzard Maladiere with coq au vin.

[box]Lucien Muzard Maladieres Premier Cru Santenay 2014, and all wines are eligible for at least 5% off any six bottles. And 10% off any 12 bottles. Some wines will be at a more significant discount and not subject to further discounts.[/box]

Clive Coates MW, Wine Report
“Top 10 Best Value Producers in Burgundy”

The 9th generation is now in charge of Lucien Muzard. A Santenay based Domaine that dates back to 1666. Hervé and Claude respect what their family have done in the past. But they are always seeking new ways to improve quality in their wines. The Lucien Muzard house style is of pure, clean and pristine Burgundy. Santenay doesn’t rate as a significant appellation, and therefore producers based in the region are not considered to be great by association. This gives people who love great Burgundy a chance to buy these wines for far less than they are worth.

Burgundy

The classic part of Burgundy, known as the Cote D’Or (the slope of gold), is essentially one vineyard that is 60km long and maybe 5km at its widest. From this limestone ridge, some of the most complex, long-lived and aromatic wines produced from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Cistercian monks who owned the land codified the entire region, and so each small plot has a name.

Santenay

A very unfashionable appellation right down south of the Cote d’Or. It is well known for its red wine but can make decent whites too. Look out for great producers making wine here, as in the right hands, you’ll get a fantastic wine and great value.

Pinot Noir

This is the most elusive grape. It is relatively early ripening and extremely sensitive to terroir. Its perfect place on earth is the Cote d’Or in Burgundy. So haunting are great red Burgundy’s charms that growers everywhere try to emulate them. Pinot Noir is not just a one-trick pony. Apart from the best reds in the world, you can find world-class Pinot Noir rosé, sparkling. You can even find sweet wines, whites on occasion, and I’ve tasted a decent fortified Pinot Noir too.

French Wine

The land that some many New World (not European) wine producers look to emulate. To generalise about French wine, I would say it is savoury, lighter-bodied wines. They are the definition of elegant, complex. There are many styles, though. And there is a French wine for every palate. They lead the world in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Burgundy. Sparkling Wine in Champagne. Cabernet and Merlot in Bordeaux. Syrah(Shiraz) and Grenache in the Rhone Valley. Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris in Alsace. Sauvignon Blanc, and Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley. Gamay in Beaujolais.

Wine

Wine is the result you get from fermented grape juice. There is proof of wine production dating back 8000 years ago. Fashions, innovations and many other factors have influenced the way wine has evolved over the years.

The wine grape is impressive. It contains everything you need to make grape wine except for the yeast, which lives on the outside of the skins.

Human inputs can influence the final product, including the viticulture (growing) choices. And the winemaker can shape the wine to a point too.

The best wines of the world often refer to terroir. Terroir is a French term that refers to all the climatic, geological and topographical influences on a specific piece of land. And it is true that neighbouring vineyards, grown identically, can taste noticeably different.

Red Wine

Fun fact; most of the colour for wines comes from the skins. There are only a handful of grapes that have red juice. Alicante is the most well known of these grapes.

By macerating the juice on the skins, the wine gains tannins, and flavours. Certain compounds change the chemistry of the wine too.

Red wines tend to have higher alcohol. More tannin and more oak flavours compared to other styles of wine. But the thousands of grapes and terroirs they grow in influence this.

The Wine Depository

I, Phil, have been running The Wine Depository since 2011. The Wine Depository exists to make sure you are drinking the good wines. You can browse and pick what is interesting to you. Or you can make contact with me. I’ll make sure you get what you want, to your palate, to your budget and to your door.