Tasted in Chassagne-Montrachet with Lucie Coutoux, 06 October 2022.
Domaine Michel Niellon
Le Haut des Champs
21190 Chassagne-Montrachet
Tel: +33 3 80 24 70 17
More reports with Domaine Michel Niellon
Lucie on 2021:
“It was less than half a harvest. Certainly a difficult vintage – not just the frost which came as the vines started to push but the cool weather and the wet of the summer too. It wasn’t too bad for the Bourgognes and Villages but the others were 50-80% less. A year to forget for many reasons for us. But we bottled whites in August and the reds have been bottled just over a week. Small quantities but we managed to keep all our different cuvées – Chaumée is normally 12 barrels but only 2 in 2021 to give an example. We put our love, heart and energy into this vintage – we did our best – and I think we have some reward in the wines.”
The wines…
Excellent and delicious – as every year! My early timing to taste showed the oak a little more than usual in the aromas of the whites but give these wines 2-3 years in the cellar – as a starting point – and you will be very happy!
Currently, DIAM-type closures for the Bourgogne and natural cork for the rest:
2021 Bourgogne Chardonnay
One parcel directly in front of the winery – 12-year-old vines.
Fresh, salt and pepper accents to this aromatic. Mobile, mineral, with small, fresh, intensities and interests all over the place. The nose is not showing so well, but the flavour is completely delicious and long-lasting!
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet
About 10 parcels – ‘And that might grow if we re-graft a couple of red parcels.’ All sited between the domaine and the village of Chassagne.
A broader nose – more aromatic power here. There’s more depth and scale to this wine – still juicily mineral but with a little extra cushion to the texture. Simply excellent villages
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Chenevottes
Two neighbouring parcels but with different vine ages.
Another step up in aromatic depth. More direct, more mineral, beautifully melting with citrus complexity. – not a wine of power but absolutely generous with its delicious complexity.
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er La Maltroie
Largest parcel of the domaine with almost 1 hectare of 3 different vine ages, plus some pinot. Took out half of the young (2012) vines in 2020 there was a problem with the 161-49 rootstock here. There’s still no real solution, certainly with so many consecutive hot vintage and vines planted in drier places.
The salt and pepper spice of the barrels again, with a more compact core of aroma. Broader, bubbling with minerality again, set against the citrus complexity – it’s a little more towards ripe lime and with extra minerality. Super.
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Champs Gains
Again the oak is the major contributor to the aromatics today. Much broader, and there’s more power, still on the mineral side. Extra long – ooh – I could call this more contemplative as there is more to find – but still, the energy and balance are first class. Simply excellent wine again.
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Vergers
The vines are pulled for replanting – so no Vergers for a few years.
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Clos St.Jean
On high, near the quarry – two parcels – one in CSJ and the other in the climat below of Rebichets. Again with pinot – they pulled out their pinot as there was disease but when it comes time to replant they will still replant pinot.
A broader nose, still with some of the barrel references but also for the first time starting to add floral references too. Just a little softer but still more than adequately structured. Saline and with a really beautiful finish.
2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Chaumees Clos de la Truffière
High on the hillside with domaine’s oldest vines. Not much soil here so the vines can have water stress. Just under one ha, with just three owners; the Jouards, PYCM and here.
Broad – fresh, wide, stony – that’s very lovely and becoming more floral. Ooh – young but defined, mineral, broadly mouth-watering. That’s such a great wine again. I slightly prefer the CSJ today – but in 3-5 years, who knows! Lovely lime complexity in the finish again.
The only parcel of the domaine in Puligny, just below the vines of Bouchard, both sides of this parcel are owned by Leflaives – but different ones – and below is Laguiche in Montrachet. One could say ‘well-placed.’ A gift of marriage for Lucie’s great-great grandmother – a nice gift 😉
Some oak references but a depth of mineral complexity then an overlay that’s becoming more floral too. Here there’s extra generosity, a couple of mm of fat to coat the sweeping, perfectly textured flavour. So long – a fitting grand cru – indeed, incredibly long. Bravo!
Les Reds:
Lucie: “I can’t say that pinot was easy in 2021 – to get the right maturity, to extract the best colour without extracting some green flavour and tannin that we didn’t want – favouring the aromatics. I came to the domaine in 2017 – 2021 was my first ‘hard’ vintage. My grandfather and father didn’t have enough time for the reds, I remember that in October my father would say “Sorry about the red but I have to go hunting!””
Here’s a lovely airy introduction to the wine, faintly red-fruited. Hmm, here is some elegance of flavour and even perfume in the mouth. A wine that widens even further over the palate. Modestly structured yet keeping a lot of elegance in the flavours. This is a wine that I’d still keep back for a couple of years but just so delicious – bravo!
2021 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er La Maltroie Rouge
Modest colour. A very elegant, airy nose – even a little rose perfume – no power today but it doesn’t need it. More volume, a little more cushioning from the concentration – spreading out even wider over the palate – there is ‘extra’ in all directions here. I would keep it for the same 2-3 years before starting to drink. Still absolutely delicious wine, completely engaging!