2024 Bachelet-Monnot Maranges Vieilles Vignes Rouge, Burgundy

The 2024 Maranges Vieilles Vignes comes from 40 to 50-year-old vines with a sprinkling of stems. This has a classy nose with blackcurrant, raspberry and briary scents, fine delineation with hints of bay leaf. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy tannins, fine acidity and just a pinch of cracked black pepper with a beautifully controlled finish. Classic in style, very delicious and doubtless great value-for-money.

90-92 points, Neal Martin, Vinous

Brothers Marc and Alexandre Bachelet have done more than most to put Maranges firmly on the modern Burgundy map. Based in Dezize-lès-Maranges, they work their vineyards with meticulous attention and an admirably light hand in the cellar. Their Vieilles Vignes Rouge draws on older vines in the appellation, whose deeper roots and naturally lower yields bring an extra layer of concentration and savoury detail without sacrificing the domaine’s trademark freshness.

The 2024 vintage was notoriously demanding, with cool, wet conditions and painfully small yields across Burgundy. Older vines can be particularly valuable in difficult seasons, their established root systems helping deliver more consistent ripening. Maranges’ clay-limestone slopes bring structure and earthy character, while the cooler vintage keeps the wine fragrant, bright and wonderfully agile.

Bright ruby with a translucent crimson edge, the nose opens with Morello cherry, wild strawberry and cranberry before violet, blood orange and dried herbs appear. With air come hints of black tea, pink peppercorn, clove and cool earth. The palate is juicy and energetic, with crunchy red fruit wrapped in fine, gently grippy tannins. Sour cherry, orange peel and subtle spice flow through the middle before a fresh, savoury finish.

Let’s keep the passport out: try this with Chinese roast duck, lamb souvlaki with oregano and lemon, tuna tataki with sesame, chicken yakitori or smoky eggplant with miso and spring onion. Our pick is the yakitori, charred chicken, sweet-savoury tare and a little smoke against juicy red Burgundy is a combination that deserves considerably more attention.

Cellaring: Drink from 2026 to 2035.