Tasted with Laurent Martelet who is here flanked by Rémi Colin and Laurette Martelet in Blagny, 21 September 2022.
Domaine Comtesse de Chérisey
4 bis, Hameau de Blagny
21190 Puligny-Montrachet
Tel: +33 9 66 89 59 40
www.domainecomtessedecherisey.com
More reports for Domaine Comtesse de Chérisey
Domaine Comtesse de Chérisey is one of a, slowly growing, number of domaines that now prefer to only show their wines after bottling – so here we are with their 2020 vintage. It seems that the timing still wasn’t perfect for their reds but the whites were clearly showing well! These whites had been bottled just about 2 months when I visited.
Laurent on the 2020 vintage:
“A quite warm winter was the start, we once saw -5°C in 2019 but it was never minus in 2020. A year that was certainly very dry – a deficit of rain but also quite seasonal – the recent vintages have been wet in the winter & spring but dry in the summer more like the south of France. In the end not quite on the limit of being too dry. Actually, we had a little more rain in the growing season of 20 than in 19 but it’s how often the rain arrives that depends on how stressed the vine would be. The ‘sortie’ of grapes was quite large and was looking like a big volume could be on the way but that was balanced by the dryness so we still ended up with ‘correct’ volumes – I’m surprised to say that the drought was helpful. A super balance of sugar and acid – we have concentration too – there’s no comparison to 2003. That said, we started our harvest 14 August with a young vine in Chalumaux and then stopped, restarting on the 0th and had our Paulée already on the 28th!
“In 2020, 7 trees were selected for felling at the end of the year for making the domaine’s own barrels – to be used in 2026/27 after drying, etcetera…”
The wines…
One of a very select group of ‘top domaines’ for whites in 2019 – their 2020s are very high achievers too. A great address!
2020 Meursault Bois de Bagny
1.20 ha 400m – 4 blocks of vines, a little like an amphitheatre, with a mix of older and new vines that have been blended together for first time in 2018. Relatively deep soil with up to 35% slope – so steep, next to the woods. Planted between 2006 and 2013. 4 blocks but all were blended for the final wine in 2020, with about 20% of the elevage in tank – ‘we didn’t want too ripe or too rich.’
A nose of width, faint spice too. In the mouth a wine that bubbles and moves across the palate – energy without becoming wearing – and a finish that is really persistent. I like this – it has a certain richness but like the energy, not too much. The flavour holds really well.
‘For us, this is like having to go to the south of France – this is always the first parcel with leaves, flowers and to be harvested. It’s only about 50m lower in altitude than many of the other vines…’ A parcel of 0.80 ha, vines from 1946 account for about 1/3rd, the rest two plantings of about 12 and 5 years old. The lowest vines of the domaine at 280m – the domaine’s vines go up to 400m for the villages parcel. All barrel elevage, but the same proportion of new oak in all the wines – and these are barrels made from the domaine’s forest, dried in the gounds of the domaine. Only 28 hl this year. Soil that’s, rich in iron but there’s not much of it so you’re quickly onto the rock
Ooh – that’s an interesting nose – a vibrant, modestly mineral, tension to this – it’s pulling me in. Mouth-filling, gorgeous wine – energy and freshness. Bravo!
2020 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Hameau de Blagny
The big block of 1.7 ha, soil like in Garenne – just above Garenne – stony and poor. Higher altitude – about 30m higher than Chalumaux. The average age of the vines is too – dating from about 1955 when the last gamay for passetoutgrains was pulled out plus just a little from 2000. By comparison, the Meursault Blagny has much more clay. Could label as ‘Clos’ the walls are there.
A similar style of aroma but just a little less focus to this nose – more a width of perfume than a precision. That’s super in the mouth – more volume with a cascade of flavour, of citrus acidity – modest but present width of minerality. Then a reprise of finishing citrus wave.
A 5 ha on monopoly – including just a little pinot, planted here in 1932, though producing only 11 hl/ha in 2020! A complete change of terroir – the soil is completely different, here argillo-calcaire is much more balanced towards the argilles – but this clay is rather more white, cold soils – they warm up more slowly and you note that in the speed of vine growth – the fermentations are even longer! ‘Not even a suggestion of suffering in the dryness of 2020 here. There’s more glycerol characteristics here which masks the acidity a little but there’s not any less than for the Pulignys. It’s Meursault, after all!’
Deeper classy almost ginger-cake and minerality – it seems classic Meursault. Love the shape here – it’s less forceful, less incisive but more fluid over the palate and that’s just gorgeous. Bravo.