# Côte de Nuits-Villages Rouge (2020)

- **Producer:** Domaine AMI
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Pinot Noir
- **Region:** Burgundy, France
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 12.5%
- **Average price:** €45
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 13–15 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, raspberry, violet, liquorice, smoke, game, leather, mushroom

## About this wine

Domaine AMI is the collaborative project of two close friends, Willy Roulendes and Paul Marchand-Perarnau. Willy, an experienced winemaker with a background at the legendary Domaine de Montille, and Paul, a former sommelier and natural wine distributor, combined their talents in 2014 to create wines that reflect their shared passion and camaraderie. Based in Burgundy, they manage a small estate of about 3.5 hectares and source additional organic grapes from trusted grower-friends. The estate is known for its progressive, low-intervention approach, challenging the region's traditional conventions with vibrant, terroir-driven wines and distinctive, modern label art.

## Interesting facts

- Domaine AMI translates to 'Friend' in French, celebrating the lifelong bond between founders Willy Roulendes and Paul Marchand-Perarnau.
- The wine features quirky, modern, hand-drawn label art designed to visualize the energetic and human side of natural winemaking.
- Grapes are sourced from 40-year-old vines in Comblanchien, a village famous for its dense, high-quality marble-like limestone subsoils.

## Food pairing

This medium-bodied Pinot Noir thrives on balance. Its vibrant acidity cuts through the richness of roasted meats and creamy mushroom sauces, while its fine-grained tannins complement tender proteins like veal and duck without overpowering them. The wine's subtle earthy and savory undertones harmonize beautifully with wild mushrooms, charcuterie, and local washed-rind cheeses.

## Wine making process

The 2020 Côte de Nuits-Villages Rouge is crafted from 40-year-old Pinot Noir vines grown in the organically farmed clay-limestone soils of Comblanchien. The grapes are meticulously hand-harvested and undergo 100% whole-cluster fermentation in traditional open wooden vats (cuves bois) using only indigenous yeasts. No temperature controls, chemical adjustments, or enzymes are used. Maceration lasts approximately 15 days with gentle punch-downs and light pump-overs to manage extraction. The wine is aged for 12 months in neutral, used French oak barrels to avoid wood-derived flavors. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with only a minimal dose of sulfur (under 20 mg/L) added at bottling.