Tasted in Chénas with Anita Kuhnel & Guy Marion, 02 April 2024.
Domaine Anita
62 Impasse des Caves
69840 Chénas
Tel: +33 4 74 03 55 68
www.domaine-anita.com
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More reports with Domaine Anita
Anita on 2023 & 2022:
“2023, oh yes here it was lovely. Quite heterogeneous, we had some parts with lots of grapes – others many fewer. For the 2022s much was bottled in March of 2023, and then there was another wave of bottling in June – I’ve a 2023 that was also bottled in March this year, so we can start with that. The volumes in 22 were generally a bit low due to the dryness coupled to our granite soils… Each year I have bottled a little more – there are still some bulk sales here but much less than was the case in the 2019 vintage when half was sold like that.”
The wines…
Only my second visit to this producer but also the second visit with much greatness in the cellar !!
2023(!) Chénas Cuvée P’Tit Co Les Brureaux
Semi-carbo whole clusters
Plenty of colour. A width of attractive, spiced, dark fruit. Vibrant with a lovely flavour energy. Framed by an almost grainless tannin. Really broad, graphite-accented dark fruit – and very long.
2022 Chénas Cuvée P’Tit Co Les Brureaux
Less width but more depth of aroma – a little silkier impression to these aromas, spiced but less overt. Fuid, depth of concentrated but energetic flavour – slightly more architectural – I do prefer this wine despite a little more structure. Really wide finishing and persistent – that’s a beautiful Chénas…
The old vines from the same parcel as above but in this case destemmed…
Deep colour. More airy top notes but an impressive depth of aroma too. Really impressively wide, and structured again, but here with more flavour and fruit on the bones – extra juicy and large in the finish. This needs at least a couple of years of patience but I think it will be a great wine.
This the vines on one side of the domaine and they have some Moriers on the other side of the domaine.
Deep colour again. A really wide nose, finely spiced again – growing in floral perfume. More generous, seemingly more concentrated. A rounder wine, with some very fine tannin and virtually no dryness. Wait a couple of years again but this is large, clean, and saline in the finish. That’s a delicious finish !!
2022 Fleurie Moriers
A label of red and gold…
Less open top notes but deep and ripe dark fruit supporting them. Also concentrated, but with a hint more fluidity to the experience – still quite generous but with a softer face this time. Large scale finishing again, a touch of tannin to finish – but hardly any dryness – that’s completely delicious…
2022 Morgon Château-Gaillard
Hmm – that’s open, fresh, floral and cherry in style – it’s a very attractive nose. Supple, cool fruit, good fluidity and there’s a framing of the flavour with some almost grainless tannin – but just enough for a texture of velour. Mouth-watering in the finish – a delicious wine again – less overtly (visible!) structured – but an excellent wine for sure…
2022 Moulin à Vent ‘Reine de Nuit’
Vines in MaV mainly around the house/cuvérie – elevage in cement. All whole clusters here.
Breadth and depth to this nose – despite its size there’s a very attractive elegance. Cool, generous, supple but with great supporting shape. Lots of sweetness here – finishing wide and intense and very long. A beauty – simply excellent wine.
From Les Caves – Up to 100 years old – a mix of cement and barrel elevage – trying to keep the purity of the granite. A mix of whole cluster and destemmed grapes…
Hmm – airy – not a large nose but one of very fine perfume, faintly floral. Yes! – good attack. But then broad and concentrated – any potential richness is held in check with the cool fluidity of flavour. A big wine but also a great one – what depth of finishing flavour !!
Also Les Caves – this 80% destemmed and with barrel elevage.
Ooh, that’s the most forward and floral of all the wines, so far – really super!! Direct, cool, mineral – extra intensity of flavour here – it’s the thing that would dissuade me from drinking for the next couple of years – but it will also be a great one – almost a cordial style intensity to these finishing flavours.
All destemmed with a few days of cold soak.
Really open and very high toned – slowly relaxing and becoming wider and more elegantly floral – that’s lovely. Mouth-filling – but full of material too – the texture more silky than velour – the tannic frame only a faint accent here. Not an impactful finish but here is width and deliciously long-lasting flavour – that’s a great wine !!
400-litre barrel elevage from vines in Le Clachet
A less forward nose but still holding some volume – the impression of silk – and a slowly growing floral note. Ultra silky in the mouth – here is width and supple concentration too. Really large scale in the finish with a small accent of tannic dryness though there’s hardly any grain to this tannin. Slowly, slowly fading – that’s got a lot of textural class. Possibly a great wine too!
Only magnums of this and it’s a cuvée that’s only produced when they think they have a great vintage. Also Le Clachet – elevage in demi-muids but new ones…
Also a modest volume of aroma but slowly growing in perfumed width – I don’t smell the barrels. Supple, concentrated wine – perhaps slightly more visible structure than the previous only very faintly creamy in the finish – certainly the oak but this wine doesn’t taste of oak. It will be great but, especially in magnum, I’d be waiting 5 years-plus.