Tuesday
Day 3 started with a well needed lie in leaving at 08:45 for our first barrel tasting in Nuits-Saint-Georges with Domaine Joseph Faiveley, and see their decimated cellar (a loss of half the production for reds, and two-thirds less for white.) We were therefore restricted to tasting wines with a production level of 5 barrels or more! Our highlights include Mercurey Framboisière from the Côte Chalonnaise for its wonderful purity, Monthélie Premier Cru “Champs Fulliots” which is always great value, and our favourite Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru “Les Damodes”. The Grands Crus were naturally the stars of the tasting, Andrew preferred the Charmes-Chambertin, whereas I liked the Mazis-Chambertin and Corton Clos de Corton Faiveley.
Onto Domaine Ambroise with the new winemaker of the year: François Ambroise, to taste his impressive 2021s. His straight Nuits-Saint-Georges showed well and the Corton “Le Rognet” Grand Cru with its toned down power of the last three vintages was impressive. Vosne-Romanée “Damaudes” is always a firm favourite, and it did not disappoint once more.
A quick pit stop at Louis Jadot to taste a greatly reduced range as they are not allowing barrel tastings due to incredibly small yields. However, they kindly made an exception for us.
After a quick bite to eat, we popped up to see our favourite Savigny-Les-Beaune producer: Jean-Jacques Girard, and ask him his thoughts on the vintage. He mentioned similarities to the 1986 vintage, but generally said it’s difficult to compare one vintage to another due to specific growing season characteristics (2021 is potentially the longest on record.)
Back to Beaune for our next appointment with Domaine Chanson. We were warmly greeted by Managing Director, Vincent Avenel, and the standout wines were, without a doubt, Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru “Les Chenevottes” and Beaune Premier Cru “Clos des Mouches”.
Our final tasting of the day was down in Meursault with Domaine Vincent Latour. Taking place in his impressive new winery and tasting room above with what has to be one of the most stunning vistas of Meursault’s patchwork of vineyards. Sadly, as has been the case with many producers in the Côte de Beaune, Vincent has lost between 30% (Bourgogne Blanc) and 75% (Meursault Premiers Crus) of production in 2021. His Meursault “Les Grands Charrons” as well as Meursault Premier Cru “Les Perrières” caught both our attention. Bravo, Vincent!
Another six producers visited, and we’re starting to understand and form our early views on the vintage. À demain!
Contine reading our Burgundy 2021 En Primeur Diary
