It was not the best time to visit J-M Vincent - odium was becoming a problem and Jean-Marc had to miss our visit to spray the vineyards. The whites had just been subjected to their weekly battonage and were quite cloudy and yeasty - hard to assess but it did give me an insight in to what the process does to wines, fattening up their texture, rounding them out and bringing them forward a bit. I must say I remain doubtful about its merits.

There is one other negative thing here for me, which is the enthusiasm for new oak which specially in the reds interferes for me at least with the excellent purity of the fruit. That said, if you don't mind the wood (and most people seem not to these days), these are very well-crafted wines made by a man who is clearly a perfectionist.

As well as the Santenay and Auxey made under the J-M Vincent name there is now a negociant operation, Vincent-Escalier, and the wines are being made in the same cellar using bought-in fruit of the highest standard. Prices for both the domain and negociant wines are very reasonable considering the quality.

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