Dominique Gruhier makes special Burgundy. Becky Wasserman (who imports both Mugnier and Gruhier) describes Gruhier's reds as Chablisien Pinot Noir. Which makes sense: his village, Épineuil, is north of Chablis and has the same bedrock of kimmeridgian limestone. And the Pinot that grows there does taste Chablisien: clear and pure with fruit that shimmers and minerals that evoke white wine. Elegance. When you taste it you understand why Mugnier (famous for his pure and graceful wines) was such a fan.

The reds are surprising. But what shouldn't be surprising is that Gruhier makes great white and sparkling wines. After all, he isn't just close to Chablis, he's also only a few kilometers southwest of the Aube in Champagne. The Aube is where top growers like Cedric Bouchard and Vouette et Sorbée make killer Champagnes. And so, in addition to uniquely elegant Pinot, he also makes a Chablis-like Bourgogne Blanc and a very Champagne-like Crémant de Bourgogne.

What importer Bowler Wine has to say about this wine...

100% Gamay. Fruit Roilette's oldest vines go into their "Cuvée Tardive"--and a small portion of that wine is reserved for the smallest of all Roilette production, La Griffe du Marquis. The only difference is aging in barrique instead of foudre and for longer. As for all of the Coudert family wines, vinification is traditional, semi-carbonic Beaujolais style. The whole clusters are harvested by hand and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in open-top concrete tank. Maceration lasts around 18 days, with a submerged cap rather than punchdowns. The wine is aged in barrique (2 to 12 years old) for a full year, so the vintage is always one behind that of all other Roilette wines. It is bottled without fining or filtration. Sulfur use is quite minimal. Alain Coudert makes a point of noting that his parents were not aristocracy, but their village nicknames were "Le Marquis et La Marquise", for which this serious wine was playfully named.