2021 Maranges La Fussière 1. Cru Domaine Bachelet-Monnot

They now have an extra hectare in fermage, not pruned when the frost came so they made a full crop there. Rich powerful purple. The nose takes a little time but is predominantly a darker raspberry. A quality bouquet in fact, and a lovely very pretty raspberry and cherry fruit behind. Good persistence too.

The 2021 Maranges La Fussières 1er Cru Rouge was very complex to pick, the 5.5-hectares with ten different types of ripening depending on vine age and terroirs. It has a very mineral-driven bouquet, beautifully defined with more black fruit than the Clos de la Boutière. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp red fruit, a little leafy in style and sapid with a slightly peppery finish that might fool you into thinking there were stems in the blend (when in fact, they were too green to include this year).

A more elegant and admirably pure nose freely offers up its aromas of red cherry, plum and violet along with a more subtle touch of earth. There is again excellent vibrancy to the beautifully delineated medium-bodied flavors that flash both a subtle minerality and a beguiling finesse on the balanced finale. This is a really lovely effort that makes one feel like drinking it now, though it too has the stuffing to repay a few years of aging. Worth considering.