Its always a privilege to make available new wines from Domaine Dandelion and after a good rest over winter we're thrilled to release two more 2023 cuvées: the latest edition of their Hautes Côtes Nature and a one-off named Fruit Defendu.
The Hautes-Côtes Nature 2023 – an assemblage of most of their seven micro-parcels across Meloisey on clay and limestone – this year includes fruit from their two highest elevation vineyards, which in rare years are vinified separately for 'Aube', bringing with them more mineral complexity to the wine. The parcels are organic, worked by hand, treated strictly with plants for their health and all movements in the cellar are by gravity.
Fruit Defendu 2023 is an old-vine cuvée, arising from a rare opportunity Christian had to swap & purchase some organic fruit with friends in Savigny and Puligny. Alongside Pinot Noir from these 70-year-old vines, half the blend comprises their own fruit: picked from some of their oldest, steepest vines – those in the Goutte d'Or parcel. Here the Pinot grows in small, concentrated bunches with a fairly high tannin profile. The resulting wine is dark fruited and broader than we've seen from Dandelion before, with soft tannins. This will most likely be the only year it is produced.
Both wines are macerated as whole bunches for two weeks, before being hand de-stemmed to keep the profile from being too green and continuing maceration for another week, before being basket-pressed directly to old barrels for 12 months ageing. Bottled with no additions, the wines are both drinking well now, but will undoubtedly reward patience in the cellar.
