Well, if it’s really the case, no one can claim surprise.

Outside of a modest few domaines’ modest few wines, the only real value in greater Burgundy – in recent vintages – has come from outside of the Côte d’Or. I have never bought more from Chablis, Mâconnais and Beaujolais – but at the same time, so little from the Côte d’Or – not in 30 years of purchasing…

But ‘Wolf!‘ has been cried for many years – let’s wait and see if it’s really the wolf at the door – shall we?! I still don’t know anybody who can buy Richebourg if they want some!

From my inbox – the same merchant as every year:
I offer the comparison with the previous prices (in brackets) of the 2020s, 2019s, 2018s, 2017s, 2016s, and 2015… and — signifies ‘not offered’

Domaine de l’Arlot 2021

Côte de Nuits Villages Clos du Chapeau 2021 75 cl 38.00 (—)
Nuits-Saint-Georges Mont des Oiseaux 1er Cru 75cl — (—, —, 69.50, 59.00, —, 59.00)* Swiss Francs
Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru ‘Hors Ligne’ 75cl — (—, —, —, 79.00, —, —)
Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos de l’Arlot 1er Cru 2021 75cl 99.00 (98.00, 89.50, 88.00, 85.00 85.00, 79.00)
Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos Forêts St-Georges 1er Cru 2021 75cl 99.00 (98.00, 89.50, 88.00, 85.00 85.00, 79.00)
Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos Forêts St-Georges 1er Cru 2021 150cl 203.00 (201.00, 184.00, 181.00, 175.00, 175.00, —)
Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru 2021 75cl 189.00 (148.00, 135.00, 129.00, 119.00, 119.00, 109.00)
Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots 1er Cru 2021 150cl — (—, —, 263.00, —, —, —)
Romanée Saint Vivant Grand Cru 2021 75cl 695.00 (575.00, 498.00, —, —, 486.00, 445.00)

Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos de l’Arlot blanc 2021 75cl 109.00 (—)

Wow! Now that’s getting expensive in Vosne-Romanée – eh?
*Note that an additional 7.7% sales tax is also due, but the delivery cost is included…

Vaudesir to the left, Vaudesir & Moutonne to the right…

A chilly week in Chablis and the Côte d’Or too this week and weekend – I offer you a small gallery of the sights.

But first, a couple of readers have asked some questions and also for some help in deciphering some of the ‘codes’ that I use in my descriptions and reports. These are things that have built up over the years, or are shorthand when taking notes that I don’t always remember to return to ‘long-hand!’ But every now and then it’s worth a little explanation because not everyone has been coming here for years and years 🙂

Agrumes: I had always assumed that agrume was also an English-language word but it seems I may have been mistaken and that it is predominantly found in the Latin tongues. Simply put, it is citrus but it actually covers the whole family of citrus fruits. For this reason, I may sometimes refer to more green-shaded agrumes (lots of lime or lime skin) or orange/mandarin but the effect can also be shaded more to grapefruit or even some complexity of all. The Latin languages have definitions that are more open to ‘interpretation’ than the Germanic-derived ones 🙂 Some white vintages are marked by ‘agrume bitters‘, so without extra info, you can translate that ‘simply’ as a zesty, citrus-skin type of bitterness.

“Do you ever feel that a bit of oak can contribute to the overall ‘quality’ of a wine? Or are you averse to all manifestations of oak?” That’s a great question! We all have our own preferences, and whilst I would always prefer to taste the wine, rather than the containers in which it has been raised (elevage,) some aspects that come from the oak distract me less than others. Oak with a strong toast is much rarer than was once the case – overt vanilla too – which is good for me – I don’t want either of those in my glass. The more creamy accents that can come from the barrel distract me much less and I can say the same – within limits – for those spicy notes that you more often find with reds. I do believe that the barrels contribute to more impressive wines of additional longevity – but a deft hand that can expertly meld the aromas and flavours of the wood would always be my preference. It’s not just the organoleptic (smell-flavour) aspects of the wines that are altered by the barrels though – it is the shape and texture of the wines too… But a strongly oaked wine that I wouldn’t want to drink young (because of that strong aroma or flavour) can still be a very great wine if you have sufficient patience. You need a reviewer that can put ‘the now’ to one side and still be able to say that they think that a particular wine will still be great.

“Do ‘the greens’ that you have found so often in 2020 white Burgundies ever go away or is it a mark that always persists?” To offer a little more focus – I have found these pyrazines in the wines of the Côtes d’Auxere – including Chablis – so some red to go with a lot of white. There were occasional reds in both Beaujolais and the Côte d’Or too – but relatively rare – I did not note these greens in whites from any other region. If the reds of 2004 and 2011 are to be used as benchmarks, then the pyrazine notes that I am sensitive to, are stable. The 2020 Chablis that I have re-tasted in the last two weeks are worse – more overt – than was the case one year ago.

“You cite the common reaction to them as occurring in 80% of tasters – do the remaining 20% have no adverse effects whatsoever & should they all rush out & buy up the 2020 vintage Chablis?” You got that ‘back-to-front’ – it’s only about 10% of tasters that are sensitive – anecdotally, more often, it is women that have this extra sensitivity. The rest can and should rush out to buy what is otherwise a well-constructed, fine vintage for Chablis.

Gothic & WC: WC is a shorthand that I often use interchangeably for whole-clusters or whole-bunches or ‘stems.’ I sometimes refer to the effect of wc on the wine being a little gothic. By that I mean, darker, more structural – indeed a bit austere too – so in this case it means with some herbal aspects and more drying tannin. This was visible in the 2021 wines at a few important domaines – but far from all – some domaines made gorgeously perfumed wines even with 100% use of whole clusters…

Okay a few images from the last 6-7 days, enjoy:

Montée de Tonnerre

Above Beines

Préhy

Chablis

Above Les Clos

Chablis

Préhy

Beaune market

Montrachet de Laguiche looking towards Chevalier of Olivier Leflaive

Bâtard and the ‘monument’ to Anne-Claude Leflaive

Nuits St.Georges

Nuits St.Georges

Domaine Chantal Lescure is/was a 19-hectare domaine to be found in the centre of Nuits St.Georges and it has been announced this week that it has been sold.

The domaine was founded in 1975 by Chantal Lescure and Xavier Machard de Gramont – you may recognise the latter name – Chantal was the aunt of Axelle Marchard de Gramont. Was? Yes, Chantal died 25 years ago.

Chantal was one of 7 siblings and her family came from an industrial background in Dijon, making their fortune by commercialising the pressure cooker in France. The family later diversified into vines. After Chantal died (1996) it was her sons Aymeric and Thibault Machard de Gramont who came to the domaine but it was said that the next generation had little interest in running the domaine, so put someone else in charge to manage it.

The holdings are impressive – 19 hectares – with 1er crus dotted along both the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune – there’s even a little Clos de Vougeot grand cru. The domaine was (later) also an early adopter of organic viticulture, having been certified organic in their vines since 2006 and has been run by François Chavériat.

But now there are new owners, and for a change, it is not a group whose main business is making handbags. The cost of the acquisition hasn’t been released – or yet rumoured as far as I can tell!

Jean-Philippe Girard and Eric Rousseau are the new team in charge. Of course, you will know Eric from his previous life at Domaine Armand Rousseau, but what of Jean-Philippe Girard? He’s from Dijon and has recently stepped down from his own company which he ran for 30 years – working on the technologies associated with wheat, flour and bread. He’s also (still) the head of a development agency that aims to establish of new companies in the community of Dijon.

It seems that François Chavériat will remain in his position. I wish them all success in this!

Uploaded yesterday – 41 domaines and their wines – those worth a special search are outlined as usual…

Additionally, I have significantly updated the summary of the vintage for Côte de Beaune reds to also include the info on those from the Côte de Nuits – so all in one place rather than piecemeal…

For January, I have already more than 20 Chablis domaines in my report book (okay – laptop!) so that will be part 2 of my white report – probably to be published at the end of the first week in February – then it will be, once more, Beaujolais time – for part 3 of 2021 reds.

No rest for the wicked – and it might even snow on the way to Chablis later today!

Enjoy!

As every year in mid-January – the Concours des Vins de Chablis was held over the weekend – this the 37^th edition.

Following on from Guillaume Barion, last year, it was Jasper Morris who this year took the reigns as head of a jury that consisted of 71 tasters.

The task was a simple one – taste 259 wines and decide who should get a medal 🙂 It was the 2021s under the magnifying glass – except where they looked at the 2020s for the grand crus. Here (right) you can find the summary of the medalists released this morning – in French!

Enjoy!