Petit-Roy

Perhaps you've been as blown away as we have by the seemingly sudden influx of young winemaking talent across France in particular; we don't take anything at face value - we have to taste to believe it. What is of incredible value to us, however, is the experience each new winemaker has garnered before setting out on their own. As much as any of us have thought at some point through our lives that we could do our jobs better than our superiors, it is the hours, days, months, years, decades of experience is what helps a professional mold their own vision with more clarity. That's why experience alongside Patrick Bize, Freddy Mugnier, Rousseau and Leflaive caught after our eye on the well-documented CV of Seiichi Saito of Petit-Roy. After successfully operating a restaurant in Beaune that was a hot ticket for many a gourmand, Seiichi longed to return to the vineyard and did so by purchasing 2.1 hectares of lesser-known appellations in Burgundy. His contacts from his aforementioned time with famous Burgundians allowed him to purchase grapes from friends who had a similarly keen eye for healthy farming practices. Obviously, Seiichi's well-honed chef's palate only serves to heighten the sensation of his wines - they are at once savory, saline and beautifully ripe. Gulpable but more than demanding of taking a second to savor and contemplate - god, what is that taste, and why does it change with each sip, each bit of food?

The main attention goes to the Bourgogne Aligote as well as the reds, but the whole range is worth exploring. The Altesse comes from Bugey in Savoie, planted to limestone and marl soils. It's a local grape, slightly nutty with smoky tones complementing some citrus, flowers and tea-like aromatics laced with saline. That's not too dissimilar from the delicious Aligote, which is more bountiful in its aromas of lime, citrus blossom, hints of butter and a toasty, salty edge. You could take a step up into the Bourgogne Blanc Aux Boutieres, from the same plot as the Aligote. Chardonnay from the clay soils gets beautifully ripe, bringing out more meyer lemon and apricot, even hints of tropical fruits with that chalky minerality underneath.

The reds are stunning as well, such as the Bourgogne Les Lormes and de Sousa - both from Pommard, Les Lormes from the younger vines and de Sousa from the oldest vines. Lormes is de-stemmed to reveal a bit more richness and playful quality, whereas de Sousa, from vines planted in 1949 is left whole cluster for the press, revealing more spark of spice and lifted minerality.

There is the dual bottling of Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Beaune, with one bottled without sulfur marked "SS". Pressed without removal of stems, this becomes incredibly spicy and deep, coming from the slopes above Pommard.

I think the most pertinent other wine to touch on is the Monthelie Le Meix Bataille, from a vineyard directly next to Meursault. This is also a whole-cluster wine, redolent in spicy tones, black fruits and fine tannins. This is one of the more powerful wines of the bunch, deep and thought-provoking. It reminds you of a great Bize wine, both savory and sweet.