Tasted with Alexandre Vernet, 17 July 2023.
Domaine Hoffmann-Jayer
1 rue du Meix Grenot
21700 Magny-les-Villers
Tel: + 33 3 80 62 91 79
www.hoffmann-jayer.com
More reports with Domaine Hoffmann-Jayer
Alexandre on 2022 versus 2021:
2022 – a good harvest after both 2020 and 2021 – we are normally not more than 30 hl/ha in the Côte de Nuits Villages – but we had quantity and quality. I like 2021 – there was not a lot to harvest and still more to triage – but the wines are lovely even if I find a bit more character in 2022 with a bit more richness too. As for the sugars, we saw 12.5-13° without any chaptalization in 2021 and a good half degree higher in 2022.
The wines…
Alexandre knocked it out of the park in both vintages – with quite some volume of great Bourgognes – the Nuits and Echézeaux will be harder to find!
The aligoté hadn’t yet finished its sugar fermentations so we started with:
2022 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune Blanc
1 ha of this, 1.2. of the HCDN blanc
This is very aromatic. Mouth-filling, sweetness of ripe fruit, very generous wine but not lacking proper shape. Long too.
Steeper and more limestone here, but elevage exactly as the previous wine.
Extra zip and aromatic freshness. Hmm, in the mouth too, more direction, I love the shape too – silky wine with a modest cushion and fine energy. Top, vibrant and mineral finishing…
Les Reds:
1 ha here. Two late-ripening parcels between Magny and Pernand
Vibrant, beautifully perfumed fruit despite this late ripening area. In the mouth too – wide, open juicy red fruit. Top again, vibrant with lovely clarity of red fruit flavour. Another really excellent wine, indeed a great Bourgogne.
1.8 hectares, 300 metres from the domaine. South facing with smaller millerande grapes -split into three long parcels, richer soil in one part, less soil in another, bottom middle and top – all very different but assembled for the elevage.
Lots more colour. Breadth, still vibrant, slightly spiced fruit. Hmm – complex, fluid, energetic – a little more taut too. Another world, but also, what classy great Bourgogne.
2022 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Cuvée Rosalie
‘The best few barrels but not isolated every year.’
Breadth again, slight softer, more fruit impression here. It’s about juiciness and structure – so faintly accented with a grainless tannin. This more intense and floral – but powerful too – hyper-impressive wine.
2022 Côte de Nuits Villages
From Corgoloin, three lieu-dits next to each other, 1.3 ha of vines about 2km away from Magny.
More aromatic depth, here with an accent of creamy oak then florals. The creamy base is here but with a wonderful complexity, delivered with nice fluidity. Impressive persistence again.
This north-facing…
Fabulous pure fruit and flowers – great. Vibrant, I love this energy, the oak hardly visible. Juicy and great!
2022 Nuits St.Georges Hautes Poirets
One of two proprietors here.
A more concentrated and more vertical aromatic – less open. Beautiful intensity, slightly saline. More concentrated than the last but still without overt weight. The finish is persistent but more airy.
Bottom of the hill, next to Vosne villages Damaudes, 0.1 ha usually enough for two barrels – in this vintage just 1 from these 1901 vines.
Broader, wonderful aromas at the extremities. Deep, a suggestion of malo but wonderful complexity too. Vibrant, gorgeous flavour intensity. Wonderful finishing intensity too faintly creamy and so slowly fading… top wine!
2022 Echézeaux du Dessus
O.54 hectares that in the 1960s was part of DRC.
Wider, more airy aromatic but beautifully perfumed. Extra stricture and a wonderfully delicious complexity that grows super-wide. Much finer in style today when compared to the intensity of the Damodes. Simply excellent Grand Cru.
Some 2021s?
Alexandre likes long elevage, and today with less sulfur ‘I find more purity since I stopped using SO2 during the elevage – which I always felt made the wines taste more serious.‘ It’s about 18 months in barrel before some time in tank – so summer bottlings are the rule here and not all the 2021s are done yet:
2021 Bourgogne Aligote
70 yo vines, cordon, rarely more than 40 hl/ha. From tank
Ripeness but also a mineral freshness. A creamy core, with depth of flavour and lovely silky texture. Broadening and becoming ever more intense then slowly fading – but with width. Lovely wine.
2021 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune Blanc
Less open but still with a silky width. Only 17 hl/ha! Juicy, complex, nice shape. A lovely citrus finish here – a small citrus bitter which brings me back for another taste. Lovely wine.
2021 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Blanc
Wide and fuller. A hint of butterscotch. Mouth-filling, I really like the shape of this and the slowly fading finish. It was easy to choose the nuits as my favourite in 22 – its much less easy between these two!
Les Reds:
Only 13 hl/ha
This nose is super open but just like that of the 22. Juicy, complex, mobile flavoured – wonderfully delicious bourgogne – bravo – I’d drink this today!
50% more, still, that’s only 19 hl/ha…
Deeper, a little more intense but still an open aromatic style that’s more reminiscent of the côte de beaunes than the 22 côte de nuits. Direct, intense but accessible and still open. This delicious and great 21 is also less serious than the 22 currently shows…
2021 Côte de Nuits Villages
Tighter top notes but broadening at its aromatic base. Broad, a panoramic wine that leads with its acidity – but juicily in a good way. It begs you to take the next sip. Just a couple of mm of cushion – then a floral perfume as part of a great finish – so persistent. Absolutely delicious.
Almost none of this and no Damodes in 2021!
A little high-toned, faintly volatile at this stage of elevage. But that’s also got a beautifully engaging complexity in the flavour – I love the high-toned finishing perfume.
2021 Echézeaux du Dessus
Only 15 hl/ha
Narrow, but hauntingly inviting perfume – not fully open but who cares! Directly intense, a hint creamy, super shape with a suggestion of creaminess too. That could be a great one – its certainly an excellent grand cru. The finish seemingly broadens as time goes by – it’s a great finish