When he's not making exquisitely delicate Pinot Noir like this, Xavier Guillaume's main occupation is running a vine nursery in Charcenne, 50 miles east of Beaune, from where he supplies rootstock and vine plants to many of the great Burgundy domaines, including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. With such fantastic raw ingredients at his disposal. it's no wonder that he dabbles a bit in wine-making on the side. After all, if you supply a 3-Star Michelin restaurant with eggs, you're going to make yourself a few omelettes.

This Pinot Noir comes from a region adjacent to Burgundy, but bearing the lesser-known appellation, Franche-Comté. It’s exactly the sort of wine we love discovering, because it shows all the wonderful qualities of its more famous neighbour, but because it can't trade on its name, it has to fight that bit harder to get noticed, so the quality is higher and the price is lower. That's meat and veg to us!

A quick swirl of the glass releases the most gorgeous Pinot Noir aromas, like wafting a punnet of freshly-picked strawberries under your nose plus hints of violets and aromatic resins. The palate is succulent, juicy and summery, awash with notes of black raspberry, rhubarb, rosehip and fragrant wood. Silky on the palate with impressive depth and that elusive je ne sais quoi of a fine French Pinot Noir. A disarmingly delicious drop. 12.5% alc. Drink now-2028.

“Afterwards, the ritual continues. I move on to a little slice of rye or sourdough bread and a tiny bit of goat’s cheese, as well as one glass — or maybe two — of Guillaume Pinot Noir.” - Raymond Blanc


Press Review (previous vintage):

JancisRobinson.com (Tamlyn Currin): “So red-fruited it's almost grinning with the sheer delight of it, and so mouth-wateringly fresh you'd want to swim in it on a hot day. Bags of menthol-cherry, rose hip and pomegranate fruit cartwheeling across the palate like an acrobat. Leafy lithe tannins and snapping with electric energy. Drink now-2024.” 16.5 points