2022 Domaine des Croix Saint Romain Combe Bazin

This is only the third vintage from Domaine des Croix’s Combe Bazin, a steep, stony site on white soils. Croix’s parcel covers a single hectare. The vines deliver microscopic yields, and Croix is replanting most of the vineyard with mass-selection cuttings. The two barrels from 2022 come from the finest 15% of the vines. The grapes were lightly crushed, followed by a gentle, three-hour press. The wine fermented spontaneously and aged for a year on lees in used 500-litre barrels before another six months in concrete. Croix notes that the archetypal Combe Bazin is a Saint-Romain that “fills out the palate”, and that is precisely what you get here: generosity balanced with juicy freshness, mineral chalkiness and coolness from the terroir’s altitude and shallow limestone soils.