From a warm, walled site with hard limestone soils, the 2023 Santenay 1er Cru Clos des Gravières opens with aromas of peach, pear and orange peel, interlaced with hints of freshly baked bread. On the palate, it is medium- to full-bodied, suffused with ripe yet vibrant acidity, uniting plenitude and texture with tension and cut. Harvested between September 2 and 12, Olivier Lamy has produced another compelling range of wines in 2023, despite below-average rainfall, a hot growing season and localized hail in July. This year, he pursued greater extraction to endow the wines with a more pronounced dry extract, lending them a firmer structure and a heightened sensation of freshness. After all, he is a vigneron who believes that taste matters more than mere analysis.(KK)

The 2023 Santenay Clos des Gravières Vieilles Vignes comes from vines that undergo tressage and saw 100% whole bunch this year (incidentally, there will be an Haut-Densitée cuvée of this at some point in the future when the younger vines mature). This was my preferred nose amongst the four reds that Olivier Lamy poured: the best delineation and purity, perfumed raspberry and wild strawberry, white flowers and crushed stone. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, cranberry and strawberry to the fore, fine acidity with quite a structured though not grippy finish. I would afford this a couple of years in bottle.(NM)