Valery Renaudat P’tit Renaudat Pinot Noir 2021

To secure this future Tuesday night Hall of Famer, we had to get way way off the Rue Nationale Finding value takes work and knowledge of the back roads of wine country because it’s never right in front of you. This time, we had to go south and west of Sancerre on the winding roads that lead to the village of Reuilly.

Climate change has been kinder to growers of Pinot here, certainly way more than those in Oregon, again, just ask Chad. In a place where a generation ago red grapes didn’t fully ripen every year, Valéry Renaudat is now producing knocked-out, vibrant Pinot that put to the shame most simple Bourgognes that are double the P’tit Renaudat price.

Valéry represents the third generation of his family’s wine growing. His grandad must have been some kind of visionary as he was the first to plant Pinot Noir in the limestone laden vineyards of Reuilly. That limestone is key as it isn’t just sunny days that makes Pinot great. Limestone, like we find all over Burgundy, lends freshness and tension to Pinot that make it great with food and better with air, giving that all that generous fruit a real sense of crunch.