Tasted in Savigny with the sisters Juliette and Caroline Chenu, 19 November 2020.

Domaine Louis Chenu Père et Filles
12 rue Joseph de Pesquidoux
21420 Savigny-lès-beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 26 13 96
www.louischenu.com
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Juliette & Caroline on 2020:
“It was really an easy vintage I’d say – the summer lacked water, it was a very early vintage but it had started early too. Practically no maladies, some historic zones for oïdium had a little but only there. We harvest about 1 week later than say Meursault so we just avoided the frost. Everything seemed to happen quite quickly during the year, you could say atypical, but in the last years it’s more typical of the weather and August harvests, yet we have a super acidity. The balance is good but the volume for reds is low, the whites are better. For some of the reds we have half of the yield versus 2018 – though that was a big year. We can’t compare it to another vintage, really…”

Juliette & Caroline on 2019:
“We had some frost in 2019, the buds were swelling at this time so we had some losses, but not too much. Apart from the frost, the work in the vines was relatively easy – we are lucky with the recent summer weathers as we are organic and have not had many difficult challenges – spring frosts are our biggest concern these days as the start of growth seems ever earlier. A vintage that is quite classic, harvested in September, I see some similarities between the vintage pair of 18 and 19 and the vintages 2009 and 2010. Again, a smaller but not too bad volume – mid-30s hl/ha for some of the reds. ”

The wines…

A domaine that sails serenely on with elegantly pure wines, perhaps with some extra concentration in the last years too – but always with delicious, dependable wines.

2019 Bourgogne Aligoté
A long vinification, the malo rather late – bottled one week.
A little fine depth of citrus here – that’s quite inviting. A width of flavour, with a little richness of texture but a super line of finishing flavour. That’s very tasty wine.

2019 Bourgogne Chardonnay
Higher vines in Savigny. All old-barrel elevage, long fermentations due to the cold cellars.
Here’s a little more width of aroma, sweetly citrus. Pow! Extra impact, extra energy, lots of mouth-watering, almost juicy flavour. That’s a very tasty wine…

2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune Blanc Les Saucours​
Same elevage as the last but with around 10% new barrels – two parcels, old vines including a little pinot blanc – hillside towards Beaune. This bottled in August.
More open in the higher tones, almost a suggestion of flowers in here. Hmm, more richness here – more generosity – but at the same time with lovely balancing acidity. This is very delicious with a weight of finishing flavour – excellent Savigny Blanc.

Les Rouges…

2019 Bourgogne Rouge​
An assembly of 3 parcels, Boutières, plus two that are in the Hautes Côtes – three very different terroirs. Tank elevage for this wine, including some foudre.
Medium. Medium-plus colour. Bright attractive, vibrant berry fruit. Crunchy red fruit – very mouthwatering, modest structure immodestly tasty with a lovely finishing intensity, almost cherry stone finishing. Excellent and completely delicious Bourgogne.

2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune
The only wine not yet bottled – still in tank. Four parcels mainly in the flats with deeper soil.
A little lighter colour. More weight, more density of red fruit aroma. Some gas here. Open, fresh – quite mouth-filling, today with a small grain of tannin – a wine of fine width in the finish and a little twist of floral and bitters in the finish – a lovely finish. This will be lovely wine.

2019 Chorey-lès-Beaune Les Beaumonts
Bottled last week. A small cuvée so whilst elevage in barrel, none were new…
Medium, medium-plus colour. Wide aroma, a little darker red but still red – a richness in this aroma though not fully open. Hmm, that’s lovey – a little extra structure but energy and juicy flavour too. Layered and very tasty finishing. I like the elegance of this Beaumonts in some hands can be rather bulky and concentrated but here not.

2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Talmettes
Bottled in August.
The typical medium, medium-plus colour here. A faint herb overflies a supporting red fruit. Extra depth of flavour, a wine that grows in volume in the mouth. Understated but wide waves of easy finishing flavour, classicly accented with a little herb here.

2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Le Clous
A little more colour here. A narrower nose again but with more obvious depth of darker red fruit. More density of flavour, mouth-filling, fine balance and concentrated, layered, despite the generous style this is a little closed but the finish is impressive in volume. This will be really excellent but give it a little time.

2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Lavières
Hmm a little more perfumed here, faintly floral with a freshness of fruit. More mouth-filling again. More open supple and melting with tasty flavour – tarry and wide, slightly mineral and quite powerful finishing – completely classic finishing.