Jean Tardy & Fils, Fixin La Place 2016

I prefer to pick a little earlier to keep the natural acidity and freshness. We fermented at around 31° to 32° Celsius for six days with one daily pigeage, tasting all the time. In the end we did five pigeages. We also conduct a longer cold maceration, starting from a very low temperature and raising it slowly to soften the tannins. Everything is de-stemmed, and at the moment nothing has been racked. You might categorize Tardy’s wines as leaning to the more modern, intense side of Vosne-Romanée winemaking. There is always density and grip to these wines, which benefit from bottle age.

Situated on the main RN74 artery, nestled amongst the row of similar-looking houses, is Domaine Jean Tardy. It is a small operation, just half a dozen or so crus in small but fortunately not microscopic quantities. Tardy is always welcoming and affable. He creates relatively fruit-driven, concentrated wines that lean towards the black side of the fruit spectrum rather than red. The Tardy family has been producing wine since the 1920s, and Guillaume Tardy, still in his 30s, has been running the current estate for more than 10 years, establishing a serious reputation for himself and his wines.