Photography by Jon Wyand
Hautes-Côtes, because the focus was more ordinary wine.” His most widely known single-vineyard wine is Les Dames- Huguettes, which is a very attractive wine. Several other producers, among them Boisset and Domaine Cathiard, now use the lieu-dit on their labels. Dames-Huguettes is a large, 50ha (125-acre) parcel in multiple ownership, situated at 350– 400m (1,150–1,300ft) on a slight, southeast-facing slope of Argovian marl. It lies above the southern premier cru vineyards of Nuits-St-Georges, where the land flattens out at the top of the slope. Laurent receives grapes from 2.4ha (6 acres) but tells me that only a small part is bottled under the Les Dames-Huguettes label. It’s taking time to establish a sufficient following, and so, for now, most goes into a less expensive Hautes-Côtes red blend. But it is a comparison of Edouard Delaunay’s two single- vineyard white wines that clearly illustrates the diversity of Hautes-Côtes de Nuits terroir. Le Mont lies above Clos de Fôret in Prémeaux-Prissey at 350m (1,150ft) on an east-facing slope with a limestone soil—we are near the Comblanchien quarries. This makes a richer, fuller bodied style than Les Lares—a citrusy, straight, and energetic Chardonnay. The latter comes from a west-southwest-facing slope in Curtil-Vergy. Given the northerly latitude, the 400m (1,300ft) altitude, and the exposure, there is more acidity and freshness in Les Lares. There’s no denying the contrast between the two. It’s worth remarking upon the location of these two vineyards within the broader context of the Hautes-Côtes. On one hand, we have those vineyards close to the Côte, such as Le Mont, some even adjoining the Côte d’Or vineyards, while others are also relatively near the Côte, covering the ground as it flattens above the slope. On the other hand, we have Hautes-Côtes from the undulating plateau—the heartland of the Hautes-Côtes, which is punctuated by small hills and scattered with villages such as Curtil-Vergy. Domaine de l’Arlot also has a single hectare (2.47 acres) in Le
Mont, where the top two thirds are planted to Chardonnay. In 2023, this has a generous and peachy mid-palate, but is crisp and savory to finish, while the Pinot Noir is red-cherry-juicy and crunchy, to boot. I always like both of Arlot’s Hautes-Côtes. So again I think it’s a shame that the Pinot Noir has just recently been grubbed up to plant more Chardonnay. Jean-Philippe Archambaud (JJ Archambaud) is among
several producers in Vosne-Romanée with land on the Hautes- Côtes just above the village in the lieu-dit Aux Défois (or Au Défoi), where he describes the soil as “limestone and clay, very rich in iron.” I tried a vertical from 2018 to 2023, a run of hot vintages, with the exception of 2021, in which the texture was consistently smooth, but even with climate change, there is a cool, herbaceous, stemmy twang. All were 12.5% ABV. Anne Gros calls her white Hautes-Côtes de Nuits “Cuvée
Marine,” which alludes to the fossils in the soil of the limestone plateau above Vosne-Romanée. I’ve aways rather liked this wine. Also making white from the plateau, Gros Frère et Soeur produce a smooth-stone, savory, and almondy Hautes-Côtes Blanc, also well worth seeking out. The other Gros family—Michel and his son Pierre—has vineyards in the heartland of the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. The lieu-dit Au Vallon faces southwest and makes a pretty, single-
Opposite: The experienced, passionate Boris Champy, who wants Au Clou to be recognized as the best-known climat in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune.
vineyard red wine. But the Fontaine St Martin (monopole) is even more interesting. Over the past 20 years, I have reviewed and sometimes bought wine from this east-facing vineyard, just east of Chevrey. In warm years, the red is fruity, crunchy, and fresh; it is leaner in classic seasons, but recently the attractive expression of this vineyard has become increasingly reliable. The geologist Françoise Vannier has conducted studies that reveal that the hill on which Fontaine St Martin lies is comparable with the hill of Corton—Oxfordian limestone, from the upper Jurassic period, in similar strata and with a similar profile of marns. These layers are thin and fine-textured at the top, and as much as 1m (3.3ft) deep at the bottom. Michel Gros has planted 1ha (2.47 acres) of Chardonnay at
the top, and 2ha (5 acres) at the bottom. The two are blended for Fontaine St Martin Blanc, which has savory richness and power, with smooth-stone allure. A well-structured Hautes-Côtes. Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Blanc shares the savory, stony quality of Côte de Nuits whites—and I love them. Another excellent example is made by Méo-Camuzet from a 3.54ha (11.6-acre) parcel above Echézeaux at 380m (1,250ft), planted by Jean- Nicolas Méo in 1990–92. The 2022 Clos Philibert reminds me of buttered brazils, richly nutty and slightly salty; it slips down very easily. No pretensions, just very nice. There are relatively few Côte de Nuits Blancs, so it is particularly pleasing to find a growing number from the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. I still think it’s a shame, on either Hautes-Côtes, when this comes at the expense of those Pinot Noirs with a track record of delightful wine in warm vintages. But Chardonnay is really much more reliable and there’s a thirst for white, so it’s understandable that some Pinot Noir vineyards are being grubbed up. Another producer with cracking, terroir-driven Chardonnay from relatively young vines is Caroline Lestimé. She has two Hautes-Côtes parcels just above the St-Aubin appellation— there’s just some scrub between the two. Sous Eguisons, which lies above Pucelles, on marl with some silt, turns out a citrus and white-flower, piquant and lively white. Close by, Clos Bortier has a deeper, red clay soil, which produces a richer, juicier, fuller-bodied white, as well as a red. She’s planning to plant more Chardonnay. “Hautes-Côtes de Beaune is more interesting than
Bourgogne Chardonnay from below the villages,” asserts Sébastien Magnien. “You have the fruit from Chardonnay and white flowers.” Sébastien inherited 7ha (17 acres) of old-vine Pinot Noir in Meloisey, planted by his grandparents in the ’60s and ’70s. His father planted Chardonnay in the ’90s. Sébastien is probably the best-known producer from Meloisey, although he moved his wine operations to the middle of Meursault. “Meloisey,” he explains, “can be divided into two terroirs; 50ha (125 acres) in the village, where there is more clay, which is good for making fruity Pinot Noir, and 50ha above the quarry, where the soil is much more limestone and produces Pinot Noir with tannins and structure.” He makes a blend but also produces a single-vineyard wine from vines planted in 1964 in Clos des Perrière. This, he claims, is “the best terroir in the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune. There are five or six producers making wine from its 8ha (20 acres). “It is southwest-facing, with a shallow soil, where we find a lot of limestone.” Magnien’s 2023 is super-concentrated, juicy, and ripe. In this “whip around” of Hautes-Côtes terroir, I have remarked on altitude—the appellation is, after all, the Hautes-
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 117
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