Domaine Didier Fornerol - Côte de Nuits Villages Rouge 2024

Didier Fornerol was the vineyard manager and cellar master at Domaine de L’Arlot from 1982 until 1998, working under Jean-Pierre de Smet for most of those years. In 1999, Didier left L'Arlot to take over his family's domaine.

Today, Didier works 6 hectares in the village of Corgoloin and produces Côtes de Nuits-Villages red and white along with small amounts of Passetoutgrain, Aligoté, and Bourgogne. Jean-Pierre de Smet, now retired from Domaine de l’Arlot but unable to step away from wine entirely, works closely with Didier in the cellar and during harvest.

The magic and soul that Didier is able to tease out of his humble appellations are a testament to a career spent learning from one of the legends of Burgundy.

Didier is immensely passionate about the care of his vineyards, personally carrying out all vineyard tasks with his small team from pruning, to treatments, to trellising, to hand harvesting. All 6 hectares are farmed lutte raisonnée (with minimal amounts of synthetic treatments, if any at all) and the young vines are strictly pruned to limit their yields.

The Côte de Nuits Village rouge is sourced from 3.70 hectares across three different parcels west of the village of Corgoloin, one near the town cemetery and two more at a higher elevation along the Route de Villiers. The average vine age is 40 years, and the winemaking follows suit with Didier’s other wines: the wine is aged 14-16 months entirely in barrel (10% new).

An avid believer of whole cluster fermentation, Didier employs this technique religiously. Reds are manually punched down with the occasional pump over, then fermented at a slightly higher temperature. Aging is done in barrel and the percentage of new oak varies depending on the wine, but never exceeds 20% in whites and 10% in reds.

Producer: Domaine Didier Fornerol

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Appellation: Côte de Nuits Villages Rouge

Vintage: 2024

Size: 750ml