This comes from a tiny 0.38-hectare plot in a historically revered, walled area within the Gravières vineyard. It’s situated at the northern end of Santenay, close to the Chassagne border, a sort of continuation of the Clos de Tavannes. The clos sits on a 30-degree slope, and Lamy’s vines quickly tunnel into pure limestone. This has long been a renowned site, with Dr Jean Lavelle’s famous Burgundy classification already rating the vineyard as a Tête de Cuvée in 1855—the highest rating. Lamy makes white and red from here (with 0.28 hectares of Pinot vines in the same clos).
Most of the vines here are reasonably young. Lamy has increased the density and replaced substandard vine material with mass-selection cuttings from a parcel of older vines planted in 1968. The outstanding quality he is already delivering offers ample proof of the class of the terroir and the high standard of Lamy’s work in the vines. He chose to vinify a large part of this cuvée in glass Wineglobe, and, as you can tell from the note below, it’s worked out well. It’s early days for this type of vessel, but the fact that Lamy is buying more globes each year—and Arnaud Ente uses them almost exclusively—should tell you everything you need to know! Regardless, if there is a hidden gem in the Lamy range these days, this is it. A more fleshy example of the Lamy genius!