100% Pinot Noir

Food pairings: Fine charcuterie, roast poultry, beef carpaccio with Parmesan, and cheeses such as Saint-Nectaire, Livarot or Époisses.

Winemaking: The hand-harvested grapes ferment for about 15 days in concrete vats with daily pump-overs. After racking, the wine ages for about 10 months in oak barrels, 30% of them new, then continues its second year on fine lees in large oak foudres until bottling, about 20 months in all.

Vineyards and terroir: The Pinot Noir parcel lies in the Languedoc between Pézenas and Gignac, along the western banks of a former lake (étang) drained by the monks of the Abbey of Cassan in the 12th century. The lower part of the vineyard, once under water, has deep clay-silt soil, while the upper part is lighter clay-limestone. The morning air stays cool and humid for a long time, allowing slow, even ripening.

Family and history: Maison Boyer-de Bar was founded in Meursault in 2018 by two friends: Emmanuel Lucas de Bar, whose family has made wine in the Languedoc since the 15th century and who has run the family estate since 2003, and Vincent Boyer, a fourth-generation Meursault grower who took over his family domaine in 2002, converted it to organic farming and refined his winemaking with experience in California and Australia. The house combines their Burgundy and Languedoc vineyards, all harvested by hand.

In the pictures: Founders Vincent Boyer and Emmanuel Lucas de Bar in the barrel cellar; the house's vat cellar; and the two founders tasting in the cellar (photos: Maison Boyer-de Bar).