Tasted in Marsannay with Sylvain Pabion, 02 September 2021.
Château Marsannay
2 Rue des Vignes
21160 Marsannay-la-Côte
Tel: +33 3 80 51 71 11
www.chateau-marsannay.com
More reports with the Château de Marsannay
Sylvain on 2021:
“2021 was very heterogenous; some parts were down 70% but later growing parts started with plenty of fruit.”
Sylvain on 2020:
“2020 is another small volume, about the same as 2019 – so roughly 25 hl/ha. We’ve a lot of very old vines that we have to, eventually, start replacing, then there was the heat and the dryness of the vintage – so we are getting used to the low volumes! Plenty of whole-clusters this year – ~25% – but they are not overtly noticeable in many wines. Some will be bottled before the end of the year but generally, it’s 18 months of elevage here.”
It’s worth noting that the domaine here has completed its organic certification in 2021 – so from next year, the 2022 wines will wear the label AB.
The wines…
In my earlier visits here I had some worries that the extraction was on the high side, producing very dense wines – a bit like the reds of sister domaine, Château de Meursault – but what a super result in 2020 – concentrated but beautifully balanced – some brilliant wines that are worth a special search!
Since 2019 all DIAM Origine here.
2020 Bourgogne Côte d’Or
Vines in the bottom of Couchey – ‘a good place in hot years.’
A deep colour thats heralds an equally deep nose – dark fruit but not a bit overdone. Bright and fresh with lovely precision. An attractively herbed finish that has super freshness. Simply excellent Bourgogne.
30,000 bottles, a blend from multiple areas.
Higher toned with a faint firework reduction. Extra silk, beautiful direct fresh concentration thats delivered on finishing layers, faintly coffee/mocha finishing – great entry Marsannay.
Over 2 hectares, this with a little different elevage
A wider nose, finer, almost a fresh cushion enveloping the nose. More direct and driving, a little more tannin but with a texture of velour and of wide finishing flavour. Big wine but no monster, saline finishing. Bravo again!
2020 Marsannay Clos de Jeu
1.67 ha – ‘and seems to offer a very regular style.’ A large younger parcel of vines which are all destemmed.
A much more floral aromatic – very inviting. Floral, faintly wc in the mouth – more airy and juicy in this case, steely finishing – quite mineral. Yum!
2020 Marsannay Les Grands Vignes
2ha from here
Here is a finer and more precise nose. This wine takes a nice middle way between mouth-filling and direct, it’s subtly floral in the middle and finishing flavours – that’s a beauty!
A direct but finely cushioned velour of a nose. Bright, wide, saline, beautifully complex. Ooh, thats a great finish too – my new favourite!
2020 Marsannay En Clemenjeu
All wc but just 2 barrels
Really marked by the wc – herbal but also with a strong rose perfume. Round, mouth-filling, very big wine thats super aromatic but needs a lot more elevage – I’d love to revisit this one as it rounds out – the finish is just so long
2020 Marsannay Le Boivin
0.70 ha, very stony with a fault and some Comblanchien (Premeaux) limestone.
Higher toned. Wide, faintly grained, a subtle oak. Long finishing. Very good.
Almost 2 hectares – 0.5 ha very old and practically dead so we will have to replant so have replanted 0.6 ha in the last years – the rest is pretty old too but in much better shape. Practically the latest area that we harvest…
A very attractive and pure nose – a great invitation. Supple but mouth-watering. Fine concentration but gorgeously delicious. Bravo! My new favourite!
2020 Marsannay Grasses Têtes
Quite a large parcel.
Fuller, wider, darker fruit aroma. Rather driving and energetic with clarity of fruit and a certain rigour to the structure. This will improve as long as you have patience but will be very very good
2020 Marsannay Clos de Roy
Mid-slope, less than 0.3 ha – but still important for us as it represents a certain style of wine from the appellation. Almost 2/3 wc. Elevage will be nearly 2 years.
A calm but perfumed nose – no excesses here. In the mouth direct, extra acidity, bubbling with a freshness of flavour. The finish, with an extra salinity, is great, the rest of the wine needs time to catch up but the finish is that of grand vin…
2020 Fixin Petit Crais
Over 2 ha in Fixin, this the bottom of the hill.
An ample and broad nose, like many with a faintly textural impression. Vibrant, good width, so mouth-watering. Great finishing. I Love this!
2020 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Champeaux
Never more than 30 hl/ha – old vines, some as old as 100. 0.28 hectares.
A little blend of oak and whole cluster. The oak is also present in the flavours but here is also a nice fluidity of fruit. The tannin is more present in the finish – a wine that needs a bit more elevage…
2020 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Bel Air
Next to Béze just below the forest – stony, lots of Premeaux limestone – harvested 10 days after the Ruchottes yet always with good maturity.
Also a bit more oak and also a faint reduction showing on this one. Again, a beautiful fluidity to the fruit flavour – needing more elevage of course but this is more directly delicious today after the last.
2020 Vosne-Romanée 1er En Orveaux
Touched by the dryness in 2020. Worked by horse since 2017.
Aromatically a little dense – though was sulfured only yesterday. Nice texture and mouthwatering but hard to taste today.
2020 Echezeaux En Orveaux
Also just sulfured. Interesting but no proper note to make here.
Vines opposite Grands Echézeaux – 0.27 ha in Garenne, 1920s vines.
The smell of Francois Freres – here is a new barrel – but there are beautiful florals behind. The wine is nicely shaped, micro-grained with tannin but not dry – really top in the middle and finishing flavours. Grand vin here!
2020 Chambertin
An impressive width to this aroma. Impressive volume of flavour in the mouth too – a mineral side to this wine. Very complex – not yet fully in place but it’s getting there – it will need more time to come into focus than the already great Clos de Vougeot…
2017 Ruchottes-Chambertin
Faintly reductive, slightly wc perfumed too. Ooh, thats really much more in place than the Chambertin today – direct, super texture. Dark, mineral, almost chewy in the finish… Already excellent, potentially even better!