Tasted in Beaune with Thibaut Marion, 31 January, 2022.
Maison Seguin Manuel
2 Rue Arquebuse
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 21 50 42
www.seguin-manuel.com
More reports for Maison Seguin-Manuel
Thibaut on 2021:
“We were a little less affected than others as the majority of our vineyards are reds and since 2016 we prune later – so I can say less dramatic than in some places. The problem was more on our supplier side – a lot of cuvées that we habitually produce won’t be available in the 2021 vintage… On the other hand, looking at how the bulk prices exploded, I might have had cash-flow problems paying for them!”
Thibaut on 2020:
“Some are bottled, some are not yet bottled. I see 2020 as a fantastic year but it was also, clearly, the earliest ever – and even finishing in August too – the 31st. For me, too much maturity is a problem so I’m always looking for the best harvesting window – everything was in our vats by the 31st. We had some students, and my kids and their friends picking – I remember such a fun harvest in 2020 and it was still the summer-time! White volumes were normal but for the reds, like in 2019, was a low volume vintage. Fermentations were normal – no issues – our average alcohols were 13° so brought no specific problems, only one white took it’s time to finish the sugar…”
The wines…
Always a thoughtful winemaker and always managing to produce some great, covetable, wines – this year in both colours!
All the domaine wines are certified organic – ‘AB‘ – and all the whites are sealed with cork:
2020 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Côte de Beaune fruit, mainly Volnay and Chorey with some Chalonnaise from around Givry
A nice punch of fresh but ripe red fruit. Sleek, direct – lovely texture – slowly opening in the finish, mouth-watering with plenty of enlivening acidity. If you like acidity this is great, if you prefer rich, ripe fruit this will still be excellent!
‘An appellation that’s really been profiting from the warmer summers.’
More airy, the fruit a little more jammy but still an attractive invitation. Wider, silky again – gorgeous texture for the label – again plenty of lively acidity but never sharp – I’d enjoy this on the younger side so that the acidity doesn’t become too forward but this is great wine right now!
2020 Savigny-lès-Beaune Les Godeaux Classic
The first wine that’s not bottled – March or April is the plan… The family Seguin – the grandchildren – are now working the vines so this label is no longer domaine but the crop is purchased and all is still organic
A deeper nose; slightly reductive with a little smoky barrel still visible. Again a really fine texture – the tannin slowly becoming more visible and giving a slightly velvet style. Wide, open, more concentrated though showing the oak smoke of the nose here too. This is clearly an excellent villages – today with some nice finishing bitters – they will be less visible in a couple of years…
2020 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Lavières
This bottled. Now with an added second plot closer to Pernand
Ripe fruit but of clarity and not over-ripe – accented with florals too. Wide, shimmering, floral and fruit, mouth-watering – fluid in style and beautifully textured once more. A suggestion of the barrel smoke of the last – probably showing how the last will present when it’s finally bottled. Simply excellent and really complex finishing.
2020 Pommard Petits Noizons
Recently bottled
More depth to the fruit here – a similar smoky accent to the aromas. Wide and fresh and perfectly textured once more – that and the less black colours set the tone for this domaine in 2020. Easy, delicious, mobile finishing flavour. So good…
2020 Beaune 1er Cent Vignes
This waiting to bottle. In the foothills of the slope, lots of complex sediments here – ‘wines that age well but are delicious in their youth’
This a rounder but fresh, airy red fruit with a certain confiture style but not too jammy – it’s a really good invitation. Wide, mouth-filling a little reductive today. The grain of tannin is slightly more visible – but silky all around. Red, open fruit, slightly roast tart in style but not ‘cooked’. Really impressive finishing with intensity and complexity – almost chewy. That’s a finish to enjoy and contemplate.
Bottled, all whole cluster – only 3rd vintage for these young vines – but the wc was done for practical reasons as the cuvée was so small. The first vines harvested in 2020, ‘I really think that in 10 years, this could be our best vineyard’
Deep and darkly fruity – the first impression is more about fine fruit than anything from the stems. Open, gorgeous shape – plenty of stem flavour but the fluidity and texture of this wine make a formidable pairing. Hard to believe such young vines – bravo!
None of the following wines are bottled:
A more compact nose but with some airy impression in the top notes. Mouth-filling, mouth-watering, a little more visible structure – in a good sense. Here’s an extra creamy depth to the flavour – what Clive Coates would have described as ‘creamy old-vine flavour’ – It’s really great. If it adds just a hint more energy before bottling, that will be great villages!
2020 Vosne-Romanée Au Communes
A 1.8 hectare plot – since 2013. Also old vines here – ‘but the impact seems less than for the Gevrey and I see the development in bottle as always slower than the Gevreys too – by a couple of years’
A deeper, fresher, more spiced nose – as it should be! A little reduction in these flavours. But like the Gevrey nicely structured – here with a mm more of padding from the concentration. The finish is more airy and mouth-watering. Very good.
Up to one-third new oak here – the final 2 wines are 100%!
A much more powerful but still very floral perfume. Super silky again – what great textures this year. Complex depth of flavour, almost a little creamy like the Gevrey – great flavour and a top 2020.
2020 Clos de Vougeot
More sombre, more compact, slightly saline aromas – this needs a lot of air. Ultra-silky, very concentrated – plenty of barrel spice too. Impressive in the middle and then a width of fine finishing flavour. This is a wine to keep – and/or carafe. It’s certainly excellent but I’d have a 10-year perspective just for opening the first ‘test-bottle!’
This nose is more open – there’s plenty of oak in the mix but also a silky impression to pure fruit with tons of complexity. More direct, more energy – this is dynamic wine – despite the overt oak components here the energy, complexity and texture are first rate. Proper, worthy, great wine!
Les Whites…
Only the last wine is waiting to bottle, the first few were done before the harvest and the last ones as recently as January:
2020 Bourgogne Chardonnay
A broad, sunny nose – gives a little Maconnais impression but this is actually from Chalonnaise (Montagny) and Côte de Beaune. This is more mineral and fresh than the nose suggests – still a lot of ripe fruit but presented in fine fresh fashion – simply delicious.
2020 Viré-Clessé
Narrower, finer, more mineral aromatics with a small component of warm spice. In the mouth super texture – like the reds – cool and wide – mineral with some rigour – keep this for 1-2 years before attacking so that it can soften. The last flavours are fine. This is very good and potentially excellent…
More vertical – higher and low tones – that’s lovely. Extra energy, structure but no rigour – a slight extra sucrosity but not sweet. Love the energy and flavour combination. Melting flavour in the finish – bravo!
2020 Rully Blanc Vieilles-Vignes
Fewer higher tones but a good width of fresh minerality at the base of this. More citrus energy and a super undertow of mineral flavour. More fine focus in this citrus finish. Slowly fading – excellent, precise wine.
2020 Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc Vieilles-Vignes
Extra freshness of aroma – a little extra grapefruit in this agrume nose – lovely. I love the shape of this in the mouth – I see a touch of oak but also a delicious, mouth-watering, mineral and citrus wine – that’s also very Pernand. Super wine!
From the top part
A more zesty nose of citrus bitters, slowly calming in the glass and hinting at fresh ginger. Direct, pure, mouth-watering. That’s simply a great villages…
The last two are on fining, awaiting their bottling date:
2020 Beaune 1er Clos des Mouches Blanc
Will be increasing the production in the future.
A broad, open and freshly attractive nose. This is vibrantly good with a decent slug of minerality at the base too. The oak is present but only as an accent. The finish is as vibrant as the start – wait two years for the oak to fade – completely delicious wine!
Much more shy aromatics yet pure and fresh. Ooh, that is really super – extra precision, extra-pure, a wine of direction and clarity. That’s simply a great Meursault 1er – really a step up in clarity and fluidity! Of-course, behind a Lafon, for example, but not by a lot!