Santenay Rouge Les Gravières, Vincent, Jean-Marc 2020

A brilliant effort, the 2020 Santenay 1er Cru Gravières Rouge unfurls in the glass with aromas of dark berries and plums mingled with exotic spices, roses and potpourri. Medium to full-bodied, supple and perfumed, it's deep and concentrated, its ripe structuring tannins almost entirely concealed in a perfumed core of fruit.

In the August 2021 Week 2 Issue of The Wine Advocate, I devoted a feature to the wines and work of Jean-Marc Vincent, so I direct readers to that piece rather than attempt to reprise all its minutiae here. As I wrote in that piece, my first look at Vincent's 2020s from barrel in Summer 2021 convinced me that this is his finest vintage to date—and by some margin in the case of several cuvées—and when I returned to formally review them in November, those early impressions were if anything strengthened. These wines set a new benchmark for Santenay, and I couldn't recommend them more warmly.