Françoise et Denis Clair

Domaine Françoise et Denis Clair was created in Santenay in 1986, when Denis Clair began bottling his own wine instead of selling off the family's grapes. He started with five hectares; the Clairs had farmed Santenay for generations, and his wife Françoise, who came from Saint-Aubin, brought the vines that gave the domaine its second home. It now runs to fourteen hectares, eight and a half of Pinot Noir and five and a half of Chardonnay, with a small négociant activity alongside. Their son Jean-Baptiste joined in 2000 and has directed the winemaking since 2011. Denis Clair has since died, and Jean-Baptiste runs the estate with his mother.

The whites come chiefly from Saint-Aubin. Les Frionnes lies on the slope between the village of Saint-Aubin and the hamlet of Gamay, and Sur le Sentier du Clou higher up the same side of the valley; both are premiers crus, and Sur le Sentier du Clou is bottled in red as well. The domaine also works the sector that looks across at Le Montrachet, in the premiers crus En Remilly and Les Murgers des Dents de Chien, though neither is listed here. In Santenay, Clos de Tavannes sits in the north-eastern cluster of premiers crus, on the slopes that fall towards Chassagne-Montrachet, with only Les Gravières between it and Chassagne's Morgeot; Clos des Mouches is a separate Santenay premier cru, no relation to the Beaune climat of the same name. A village Santenay blanc and the red Champs Claude sit below them.

The estate holds no organic or biodynamic certification. The emphasis falls on picking selectively and sorting hard rather than on cellar technique: hand harvest, fermentation on indigenous yeasts, minimal filtration and low sulphur additions. Expect Santenay reds with the commune's firm, savoury frame and dark cherry fruit, and Saint-Aubin whites that are chalky and citrus-driven rather than rich. Arcana Cabinet lists seven wines from the domaine: the Saint-Aubin premiers crus Les Frionnes in white and Sur le Sentier du Clou in both colours, the Santenay premiers crus Clos de Tavannes and Clos des Mouches in red, the village Santenay blanc and the red Santenay Champs Claude. The range also includes the Saint-Aubin premiers crus En Remilly, Les Murgers des Dents de Chien and Sous Roche Dumay, the Santenay premiers crus Clos de la Comme and Beaurepaire, the Santenay Clos Genêt, Puligny-Montrachet La Garenne, Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune and Côte de Beaune-Villages.