Domaine Ragot Givry Vieilles Vignes Rouge 2021, Côte Chalonnaise, Burgundy

Domaine Ragot Givry Vieilles Vignes is a red Burgundy from the village of Givry in the Côte Chalonnaise, an appellation long prized for its supple, elegant Pinot Noir. As the name suggests, it is made from the family’s old vines, averaging around fifty years of age, on clay-limestone soils. These old vines naturally give smaller yields of concentrated fruit. The grapes are picked by hand and the wine is made and aged at the domaine in Poncey by Nicolas Ragot, whose family has farmed vines in the area for generations.

The nose is pure and inviting, with red berries, cherry and raspberry, developing spicy and darker fruit notes with a little time. On the palate it is fresh and well structured, with a real purity of red fruit, fine tannins and a satisfying, lingering finish.

Serve at about 16°C with roast chicken, duck, coq au vin, pork fillet, charcuterie or a cheeseboard of Comté and soft Burgundian cheeses. Domaine Ragot Givry Vieilles Vignes is approachable young, opens up beautifully after a couple of years in bottle and will keep for up to around ten years.

Domaine Ragot is a family estate in Poncey, a small hamlet in the heart of the Givry vineyard in Burgundy’s Côte Chalonnaise. The Ragots were already tending vines in neighbouring Mercurey by 1760, and roughly a century later Louis Ragot founded the Givry domaine. Today it is run by Nicolas Ragot, who joined his father Jean-Paul in the early 2000s and took over in 2008. The estate covers a little under ten hectares, all within the Givry appellation, planted mainly to Pinot Noir with some Chardonnay and Aligoté, and around a third is Premier Cru. Grapes are harvested by hand, everything is made at the domaine, and Nicolas has steadily reduced chemical treatments in favour of soil work that encourages biodiversity.