Maison A&S Maranges Les Bas de Loyeres 2023
We have 11 in stock (Inventory is live and accurate)
The Land
Maranges is the last village of the Côte de Beaune, and most Burgundy drinkers have never set foot in it. The appellation, created in 1989, spans three hamlets, Cheilly, Dezize, and Sampigny-lès-Maranges, and straddles the line where the Côte-d'Or gives way to Saône-et-Loire. The slopes face south and southeast over marl and limestone, the same geology that runs north through Santenay, but land prices here remain a fraction of what they are a few kilometers up the road. Le Bas des Loyères takes its name from the lower part of the Loyères slope, below the premier cru Le Clos des Loyères. Maranges red wine tends toward darker fruit and firmer structure than the villages to the north, and this lieu-dit shows why.
The Wine
Maison A&S Maranges Le Bas des Loyères 2023 is 100% Pinot Noir. The fruit is hand-picked into small crates, sorted at the Nantoux winery, and destemmed or kept as whole clusters depending on the year. Extraction is gentle, including foot treading, and the wine spends 12 months in older barrels, so the oak frames the fruit without adding vanilla or toast. It finishes at 12.5% alcohol, low for a vintage as hot as 2023, which brought large crops and a September heatwave near 40°C. Cool dark cherry, cracked pepper, and dried herbs lead, with a light-to-medium body, fresh acidity, and a savory, spiced finish.
The People
Maison A&S is the side project of two working Burgundy professionals. Pierre-Alexandre Soltana manages vineyards at Domaine des Comtes Lafon in Meursault, and Alexandre Aires, who spent eight years at Domaine de Bellene under Nicolas Potel, runs the cellar at Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair. They founded the house in 2018 and made their first three vintages in a rented 17th-century vaulted cellar in Chagny before buying a winery in Nantoux in 2021. Most of their fruit comes from organic growers they return to year after year, and they have begun planting their own vines in the Hautes-Côtes and Pommard.
Food Pairing
Coq au vin with lardons and pearl onions is the obvious match; the wine's acidity and peppery edge stand up to the braise. Duck confit with potatoes crisped in the fat works because the firm structure cuts through the richness. A thick slice of pâté de campagne with cornichons and grainy mustard plays to the herbal side, and roast quail with thyme suits its moderate weight. This is a red for Sunday dinner, when the cooking takes all afternoon and the wine should match it.
We ship wine to most states with a $100 minimum order for shipping. We don't ship spirits nor beer.
Weather shipping advisory: Orders placed during times of extreme heat or extreme cold will be held for no charge until more favorable weather returns.
Burgundy, in eastern France, encompasses several subregions, but it is the Côte d'Or that is home to many of the world's most expensive and revered wines. The region, primarily a single east-facing slope, has mixed limestone soils that vary dramatically from village to village and even vineyard to vineyard. White wines, crafted from Chardonnay, range from rich and opulent to lean and intensely mineral, while Pinot Noir produces silky, perfumed red wines of exceptional finesse and complexity. Centuries of winemaking tradition have resulted in every plot being meticulously recognized and scrutinized, making the Côte d'Or a true capital of terroir.
Burgundy - Cote d'Or
Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned, notoriously difficult-to-grow, low-yielding grape that finds its ancestral home in Burgundy, France, where it produces some of the world's most elegant and nuanced wines. While Burgundy remains its spiritual heartland, Pinot Noir has since traveled the globe, finding success in other cooler climates, notably in California, Oregon, New Zealand, and Germany. This grape is a challenge for any grower, as it requires specific conditions to show its best, and yet the wines it produces are capable of such a captivating and singular character.
