Bourgogne Rouge Passetoutgrains, Domaine Clair Obscur 2020

Pierre Clair has been working as 'chef de culture' at Domaine Marquis D’Angerville for many years now, a position he previously held at Domaine de Montille – these two iconic domaines have been at the forefront of biodynamic farming in the region, making Pierre an expert in the subject. During his spare time, Pierre runs his own project Clair Obscur alongside his wife Jennifer. Clair Obscur started off with 0.4ha in the village of Corpeau (down the slopes of Chassagne and Puligny) – vines that have been in the Clair family for generations. Back in 2015, Pierre and Jennifer acquired two plots in Maranges: Les Aubuzes and Sur Le Bois Sud, which they immediately converted to biodynamics. And more recently, they've taken over different 'fermages' in Santenay, Beaune, and the Hautes-Côtes (above Volnay).

Pierre tends his vines meticulously, applying all the experience gained over the years, while Jennifer "runs the show in the cellar". And Pierre comments, "she's a way better cook and winemaker than I am, she has that extra sensitivity and intuition; she learnt on the job and quickly displayed amazing skills, so I now happily follow her lead!"

The wines are vinified using whole clusters, the bunches are sealed in vats for a couple of days (kicking off fermentation as semi-carbonic to extract aromatics), the open vats are then punched down daily before pressing, fermentation finishes off in old 'pièces bourguigonnes' followed by ageing without additives. An homeopathic 0.5g of natural sulphur (from volcanic mines) is added per 228ltr barrels a couple of months pre-bottling.