The 1969 Auxey-Duresses derives from the parcel that today produced Domaine d'Auvenay's La Macabrée but in this era was planted to Pinot Noir. Lalueroy had remarked to me that she regretted replanting it to Chardonnay but that at Domaine d'Auvenay's inception, before the acquisition of its two red grands crus, it hadn't made sense to produce a sole red cuvée from Auxey-Duresses. So I couldn't resist purchasing this bottle when one of my Burgundian sources happened to offer it a few weeks later. Bursting from the glass with a pretty and fully mature bouquet of dried red berries, plums, woodsmoke, orange peel and rich soil tones, the wine is medium to full-bodied, supple and satiny, with a sapid core of sumptuously degraded fruit and a discreet hint of powdery tannin on the finish. While now is the time to drink up, this has aged exceptionally well.