Domaine Derain 'Le Ban' Saint Aubin 2018 (750ml)

The Le Ban is one of the best wines from the Derain vineyards! The wines here tend to reflect the vintage especially when it encourages slow but steady growth in the vineyard leading to wines with good structure and length.

The vines here (which were planted in 1920, so are now over 100 years old) thrive on an east facing slope covered in limestone derived brown clay and gravel.

Domaine Derain is a biodynamic producer in Burgundy with vines in a number of different Burgundian appellations.

Dominique Derain started his career making wine barrels but decided, instead, to study winemaking in Beaune. In 1988 he and his wife Catherine purchased 5.5 hectares of vineyards in Saint-Aubin just south of Beaune and began tending the vines biodynamically and making their wines in a non-interventionist way as well.

The Saint-Aubin appellation is one of the hidden secrets of Burgundy because the vineyards border those of the premier crus of Chassagne-Montrachet and Puligny-Montrachet but do not command anywhere near their price.