From a vineyard high on the Marsannay hill planted between 1965-70, the medium-to-dark ruby-colored Marsannay Les Vaudenelles bursts from the glass with a bright explosion of cherry and strawberry fruit intermingled with slate and mineral scents. Thick-textured and slightly tannic, the fresh fruit flavors have a wild component that is quite appealing. Drink 1999-2003. This Marsannay offers good value ... for Burgundy. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. The Marsannay appellation, the northernmost of the Cote d'Or, in reality a suburb of Dijon, is only known to the Burgundy cognoscenti, but on these hillsides Clair makes some of Burgundy's finest values. In '95, a hail storm on July 23 damaged Clair's grapes in Marsannay, popping some berries open and threatening the onset of rot. However, subsequent rain storms washed the broken berries from the vines leaving only the healthy ones. His yields were significantly reduced because of this occurrence (a mere 22 hectoliters/hectare), but Clair's wines are clean. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Chester, VT; tel. (802) 875-2139.