A pretty, translucent ruby colour with earthy, strawberry fruit and a light pepperyness on the nose. Mouthwatering acidity balances the moderate gentle, ripe tannins and elegant, pure, somewhat savoury red fruit.

The grapes come into the winery with stalks as the Vallets believe that destalked wines lose their colour too quickly. The first 10cm of each barrel is filled with grapes which are crushed by foot, the barrel is then topped up with whole bunches and fermentation starts naturally after 2-3 days. Since yeasts are an expression of the individual vintage and vineyard no artificial yeasts are used. 3-4 times a day the pulp is trodden by foot to further extract colour and flavour. The wines are left in open top fermenters until the cap sinks then decanted into 20-30% well toasted new oak (a small percentage compared to most). After 15-20 months the wine is racked, blended and lightly fined with bentonite. Wines are not filtered but checked by candlelight, then bottled directly from barrel by hand on a cask by cask basis.

Traditionally Coq au Vin, yet it goes equally well with roast chicken, or young game birds. For vegetarians, try matching youthful Bourgogne Rouge with pasta bakes or ratatouille.