THE PRODUCER
Michel Gaunaux seems out-of-kilter with modern Burgundy. Current practice sees
wines assessed in barrel and sold often before even being bottled, certainly
before being tasted as a finished product. Domaine Michel Gaunaux – now run by
children Anne and Alexandre – does not release wines until they deem, they are
ready, at least three years after harvest. Not fully mature by any means but
without the edginess of extreme youth. They are one of very few estates to offer
a range of older vintages.

Winemaking is also traditional, allowing the wines to speak of their provenance
with grace and style … fine-grained wines with structure but perfume and fruit. 
The 5.85ha estate was founded in 1875 and remain in the same family, with the
name from the father of the current generation who created the modern reputation
for the wines. The wines include an often-stunning Grand Cru Corton-Renardes, a
Premier Cru Pommard blended from small holdings in three vineyards, and a value
village Beaune that incorporates some Premier Cru material.

THE WINE
The tiny 10 ha Domaine Michel Gaunoux comprises parcels in the "Corton Les
Renardes" Grand Cru and several superb Pommard Premier Cru plots. The Domaine
was founded by the Gaunoux family in 1885 and is now managed by Alexandre
Gaunoux. Unique in that their wines can only be purchased post-bottling, much
like Château Latour, they only release wines when they are deemed ready.
Winemaking methods here are also very traditional, with late harvests, natural
yeasts and ageing with minimal new oak.

INFORMATION
Type:Red
Vintage:2005Country:FranceRegion:Burgundy - Cote de Beaune
Sub region:Corton Rouge
Grape:100% Pinot NoirStyle:Savory and ClassicSweetness:DryABV:13.5%Drinking
window:2015 - 2040Size:750mlFood match:Duck, Goose and Game BirdsCRITICS SCORES
We choose our wines based on a range of criteria(seehow we choose our wines)of
which critic scores is justone. Rather than simply highlight the best score to
promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided
by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do
not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more
weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores
like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a92/100average critic score or
better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a
high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we
offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the
market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and
representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide
to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add
individual critic scores to our website in the future.