1996 Serafin Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes

Domaine Christian Serafin is in Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy. The 12-acre domaine includes parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St.-Denis and Chambolle-Musigny. The domaine’s grand cru is Charmes-Chambertin and there are several premier crus produced too. Christian Serafin’s father, Stanislaus, arrived in France from his native Poland in the late 1930s and worked as a cabinet maker before joining the Polish resistance during World War II. After the war, Stanislaus found agricultural work in Gevrey and began buying parcels of land. By the late 1950s Christian was working with his father in the vineyards. Christian has operated the domaine since 1988, with help from his daughter and niece. Burgundy expert Clive Coates has written that “Serafin’s wines are full-bodied, meaty, and abundantly rich, with a good touch of spice, and are nicely oaky rather than excessively so.”

Côte de Nuits is the northern part of the Côte d’Or and it includes the most famous vineyards and wine communes in the world. There are more Grand Cru appellations in the Côte de Nuits than anywhere else in Burgundy. Of the fourteen communes, or villages in the Côte de Nuits, six produce Grand Cru wines. They are Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St.-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Flagey-Échezeaux and Vosne-Romanee. Some of the vineyards within the Côte de Nuits are tiny, which adds to their prestige. The fabled Grand Cru vineyard La Romanee is barely two square acres. Altogether there are twenty-four Grand Cru vineyards. The region takes its name from the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges. Côtes de Nuits produces mostly reds from Pinot Noir, and the wines have been in demand for centuries. During the 18th century King Louis XIV’s physician recommended that for his health the king only drink wines from Nuits-Saint-Georges. Like most of Burgundy, the soils of the Côte de Nuit can vary greatly from one vineyard to another, though most are a base soil of limestone mixed with clay, gravel and sand.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.