Tasted in Beaune with Dimitri Bazas, 25 June 2021.
Maison Champy
3 Rue du Grenier À Sel
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 25 09 99
www.champy.com
More reports with Maison Champy
Dimitri on 2019:
“Two episodes of frost in April, a flowering that was long so brought coulure and millerandes. Two small episodes of hail – some around Pernand, Ladoix and Savigny. Multiple instances of losses of 5-10%. 16-28 September was our harvest. No worry about mildew or botrytis but some worries about oïdium in and around Pernand. Grapes with high maturities, naturally high degrees but with quite high acidities. We had some rain which helped to deblock the grapes a little and half a degree less of sugar. In the end, a fantastic vintage despite -20-25% volume. It gave us good concentration and acidity and a level of phenolic components comparable to 2005 and 2009 but I think they were easier to extract.”
The wines…
A very successful vintage for Champy – thier red Pernands, in particular, are great wines for their labels and worth a special search!
2019 Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Cuvée Edme
Domaine vines, almost 2 ha a mix of Volnay and Ladoix, with some purchases. This could be a Côte d’Or labelled wine, but their basic chardonnay wouldn’t and they wanted to keep similar labelling
Plenty of colour. A little barrel spice, but also a deeper red fruit. Supple, nicely textured, obviously concentrated. A deeply flavoured wine. There’s everything here but I’d wait 2 years for the oak to fade a little.
Cistercians started in the 12th Century with these vines. Almost one hectare, high up on the limits of the Hautes Côtes a small amphitheatre. Marne and limestone here. Last vines harvested and there’s 50% whole clusters in the fermentation.
More open and aromatic, slightly floral – that’s a great invitation. Perfumed, slowly intense, slightly structurally tannic but no grain to the tannin. That’s a really great wine!
2019 Chorey-lès-Beaune
Beaumonts and Saucilles, also certified AB
Here is a return to the aromatic style of the Bourgogne with an almost toasty depth of oak – modest but visible. Mouth-filling, layered, melting – that works around the palate really well and finishes really well. A deeply flavoured and quite fleshy style – delicious.
2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune
Au Fourches (with deeper soil) and Balliards – AB certified. A relatively early bottling to keep/accentuate the fruit.
A finer, fresher nose – more my style. Bubblingly fresh, nice energy, some depth of tannin framing the flavour but no grain, just a slight textural drag. Intense and quite long too. Super.
2019 Beaune Vieilles-Vignes
Over 70 yo vines, three different parcels totalling 1.35 ha, direction Pommard. AB again
Here is a vibrant nose, slightly floral, very inviting – super. Mouth-filling, a certain round Beaune character, deep, concentrated, darker fruited – finishing with a tannin. Impressive.
2019 Pommard
AB wine. Vines just under Rugiens, Les Cras – 0.3 ha
Plenty of colour. Depth but still some airy interest. Nice direct entry, sweeping, lovely texture before the tannin takes a little more visibility. Lovely finishing intensity, mouth-watering. A super medium-term wine.
2019 Volnay
A mix of grapes from the plain and the hillside – the majority on the hill from Sur Roche.
Here’s plenty of colour. The palate is aromatic but a bit more spiced than a clichéd floral Volnay – but it arrives. A structural wine, slowly mouth-watering. Here’s a wine with everything but the integration is missing a little today. Slow and elegantly finishing though.
2018 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles-Vignes
From Champs near Brochon, planted at the start of the 1950s. Another with late malos.
A wider, more airy, more earthy nose. Volume in the mouth, a little mocha flavour in the complexity. A very good wine.
Creux de la Nett plus a little Fichots – a relatively anonymous label as already have 2 other named 1er cru bottlings.
A finer, more direct, quite airy nose – that’s fine and rose perfumed. Hmm, more wiry, direct, floral, slightly saline, completely delicious. Bravo.
2019 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Les Vergelesses
14° – the most here. 1.69 ha about 1/3 is old vines, over 60-years-old.
An airy width but also a depth of slightly darker fruit – less fine but growing in complexity vs the last. Mouth-filling, a little more structural – a wine tom wait a little longer for – today, without doubt, drink the last wine before this but here is great potential – the finish is simply super.
Much more aromatic elegance, perfumed too – an impression of silk. Direct but silken in the mouth, a subtle frame of tannin but completely ripe and grainless. Fully integrated – great Pernand.
2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Vergelesses
100% wc with just a hint of reduction but not at all gothic smelling and becoming more floral with aeration. Wide, more mouth-watering, a more visible tannin and a creamy note from the barrels. Clearly less complete today than the Ile des Vergelesses.
2019 Beaune 1er Aux Cras
Certified organic, 0.42 ha.
The nose that’s a little chalky but showing great precision and a faint floral aspect – that’s a very fine invitation. Another wine that’s framed by its tannin, but with a good mouth-watering style. Properly tannic finishing. Quite a wine but for Cras I’d be looking for a little more clarity of flavour. Impressive all the same but this will need some time…
2019 Pommard 1er Les Grands Epenots
Deep, faintly with coffee and smoky oak, but a super higher-toned fresh aromatic too. Fresh attack, wide, incisive, finishing with some dryness of the tannin. There’s power here but some overt oak flavour too – making the wines taste a little similar today.
2019 Corton-Rognet
Hmm, now here’s a more individual nose, floral, cherry fruit, nice depth but a very elegant style and not overtly oaked. Actually, the energy is very fine here. Mouth-watering, almost juicy, holding a super finish – subtle but impressive at the same time.
Les Whites…
Whites almost all are sealed with natural cork – a short capsule – vintage showing on the bottom part of the cork remaining visible below the capsule.
2019 Bourgogne Chardonnay Cuvée Edme
The only wine with DIAM. Grapes that were mainly from the area of Rully – all barrel fermented.
Actually, this nose is very well done – fresh, ripe, faintly saline which balances the more exotic fruit. Cool starting, a little mineral, a certain hardness to the structure. Good wine.
2019 Pernand-Vergelesses
2.5 Ha represented here – 4 different climats, but two are ‘relative anecdotes.’ AB, the largest cuvée of the domaine. All hand-harvested, 25% new barrels. Needs three bottlings.
Much more freshness, mineral, faintly reductive. Extra intense and precise – that’s a super finish. Simply excellent.
2019 Meursault
Rounder, a more ginger-spiced classic Meursault nose. Rounder in the mouth too but with no lack of cut and precision. Proper Meursault and a very good one.
2019 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er En Caradeux
0.93 ha – an important vine for the domaine – in 2 parcels. 30% new oak.
A depth of riper fruit despite a good freshness. More direct wine, mouth-watering and mineral. Almost a faint tannin – I love the fresh energy here.
2019 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Les Chenevottes
Bought in must.
A width of mineral freshness. Wide and with a depth to this concentration, richer fruited with a faint spice. Very good!
2019 Corton-Charlemagne
En Charlemagne, so of-course, the Pernand side.
Extra width and depth, proper class here. Mouth-filling, a water-fall of flavour in the mouth. Cushioned at the edges but not a cushioned wine. Yellow fruit, faint oak but a super wine and worthy of the label. Excellent.