Santenay Wines

Apart from the little known village of Maranges, Santenay is the most southern of the Cote de Beaune villages, and, with the soils in this area more heavy and clay/marl based, the focus moves back to red wines.

The heaviness of the soils contributes to the heavier, fleshy styles of the wines, which still have the rich, perfumed fruitiness attributed to the Pinot Noir grape, but lack the silky, velvety, profound elegance of more northern villages. Historically the wines were rustic and tough; today, with improved techniques, they are much fruitier, but still have a firm backbone.