Most ratafia was (and still is) made with white juice, muted with marc de Bourgogne. For starters, Didier wanted his ratafia to be red, and muted with the softer, smoother fine de Bourgogne. The goal was to change the perception of ratafia from rustic to elegant, harsh to gentle. Working with some top growers in the Côte de Nuits, Didier takes freshly harvested Pinot Noir and Gamay grapes and puts them in tank, exactly as if he were going to make a red wine. As soon as Didier tastes fermentation on the horizon, he presses off the juice from the skins and then cuts it with one-year-old fine (of his own production, of course), following the traditional ratio of two-thirds grape must, one-third spirit. The spirit kills off the yeast and the ratafia is born. The result is aromas of earth, red Burgundy, and fresh fruit, with only the slightest hint of the fine, which stays in the background and lets the fruit do the talking.