Tasted in Puligny with Jean-Michel Chartron, 21 October, 2021.
Domaine Jean Chartron
8 Bis Grande Rue
21190 Puligny-Montrachet
Tel: +33 3 80 21 99 19
www.bourgogne-chartron.com
More reports with Domaine Chartron
Jean-Michel on 2021:
“21 brought about 50% of the normal volume of wine – and we made a couple of treatments to achieve that, too.”
Jean-Michel on 2020:
“It was an important ‘sortie’ of grapes at the start of the year, the response to the small frost we had in 2019. In the end, the rendement was lower than anticipated – fewer grapes on the hillsides, the flats were not too bad – Puligny has a lot of flats so no complaints! I think the pinot suffered a little more, Caillerets was only 225 kg – 40% less than for a full barrel. That’s the yield perspective but from the perspective of quality I think super – the balance of sugar and acidity is very interesting indeed – we won’t have any heavy wines. We started 14th August with the Caillerets red and didn’t finish until the 10th September in the Hautes Côtes – that and the Charlemagne were both picked in September. It was a hot year but one that was balanced with cool nights.”
The wines…
Jean-Michel continues to craft wines of precision, drive and energy. In 2020 you can add detail and fluidity to those descriptors!
“If I have the time, bottling will start before the St.Vincent, if not it will be in February.” All the Bourgognes are sealed with DIAM, higher wines depends on the vintage – Caillerets/Pucelles in cork like the GCs except Corton-Charlemagne which is also DIAM.
First, les Reds:
2020 Bourgogne Côte d’Or (or Bourgogne VV)
Again the label depends on markets – but it’s the same wine.
Deep, open, lots of complexity – I might think some wc but there’s none. Big in the mouth – round, full of fruit, faintly accented with the finest grain of tannin. Lingering on a mouth-watering note – have a bit of patience but there’s a lot of (super) wine here.
2020 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Clos du Cailleret (Rouge)
Less coloured, fresh with less weight of aroma – much more elegant. Layered, extra-fine, practically no grain to this tannin. That’s a fine finish with waves of flavour. Holding well too.
Les Whites:
2020 Bourgogne Chardonnay Cuvée Eugénie Dupard
Bottled end of July. 3 labels for the same cuvée. Also (possibly!) labelled simply as Bourgogne Côte d’Or or Bourgogne VV for markets outside France – Jean-Michel is open!
A nose of lovely, airy, freshness. Really a concentration – nice intensity too – not the finesse of higher wines but you have everything here for the label – Excellent wine.
Also airy and fresh – a bit more salinity too. Easier, more melting flavour over the palate – more calm in comparison too. Long and very lovely. More elegant – I’d take this ahead of the last – bravo!
4 hectares here.
Here is a much more mineral, narrower nose. Nice shape and energy in the mouth. Complex, fresh – great Rully – crunchy, fresh, gorgeous wine.
2020 Santenay Les Pierres Seche
Just one parcel.
A smaller nose but with good purity and freshness. A little extra ripeness but still surrounded by freshness and energy. Very good.
2020 Savigny-lès-Beaune Nourrissants, Théologiques et Morbifuges
That’s a nice combination of ripe citrus – mainly yellow – and freshness. Mouth-filling, great energy and ripeness – the first wine with some creamy oak showing. I’d personally wait for that to fade – but this is a lovely wine with a fine and fresh mouthfeel but not too much energy.
2020 Pernand-Vergelesses
Mainly from Belles Filles
A calmer, slightly more compact nose but with a good and fresh width. Slightly saline, certainly a little Pernand reductive style in the flavour – vibrant finishing – great finishing – that’s excellent.
2020 Meursault
A blend of parcels that are high on the hill towards Puligny – Tillets and Narvaux – ‘I want a Puligny style hence the locations but this very Meursault.’ This was previously called ‘Pierres’ but the douane didn’t like that as it sounded too much like Perrières! So…
A smaller nose, like the last, but the width has fine Meursault spice and a little freshness. Also in the mouth, nicely fresh and faintly with ginger-spice. A faint framing of the flavours with a tiny grain of tannin – gorgeously mobile finishing – delicious wine!
This used to be labelled Les Benoîtes but now includes (separately vinified) the young vines – actually the first harvest – from their Chassagne 1er Caillerets
A lovely width of more perfumed and floral aroma. Ooh – that’s lovely – mouth-filling with an airy freshness but at the same time deliciously flavoured. That a top, perfumed, delicious villages.
2020 St.Aubin 1er Perrières
That’s a lovely nose, deep, mineral, fresh, with a suggestion of reduction. Fully mineral, properly mouth-filling, structural but not too much rigour – you can safely approach it – or wait. A stony finish. Lovely again…
2020 St.Aubin 1er Murgers des Dents du Chien
Airy, wide, a little more class to this fresh fruit. Also in the mouth – a wine of fresh energy, very faintly framed with tannin. A lovely and pure finish, creamy with a little oak too. A super wine as always.
2020 Puligny-Montrachet
Not a lot of domaine villages here so this an assembly with multiple contracts too. ‘Normally three parcels with a hint of 1er from the Meursault side. Mainly Sous la Velle, Levrons and Rue Rousseau, plus some must from colleagues as I own only a dozen ouvrées.’
A little agrume fruit is visible in this nicely fresh nose. Easy over the palate – too easy to drink! – but still with a super balance and a nice peak of finishing flavour. Just a delicious Puligny.
A very attractive extra strictness to this nose – more structural – but I like. In the mouth too – a little gas – there’s really extra of everything here – a great mouth-watering finish too – bravo!
2020 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Vieilles-Vignes
The largest part of this is from Hameau de Blagny
Plenty of airy freshness – though, this nose is less perfectly defined than the Enseignières. A little more intensity to the fresh flavour than the last wine – here is the step-up expected of a premier cru – super wine!
2020 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Folatières
That’s a great nose – direct, fresh, a noble reduction. Also in the mouth, this is just so good – an airy character but not to the detriment of the concentration or the delicious energy of the flavours – a really excellent Folatières.
2020 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Clos de la Pucelles
The 103rd vintage for this wine at the domaine.
A much tighter nose – but the clarity of aroma is there. Extra mineral – even after the Folatières. A wine of structure but pure complexity too – for this, you definitely need to wait longer. Vibrantly finishing though – super wine but be patient!
Also the 103rd vintage for this wine chez Chartron. This, together with the Clos Chevalier and Clos de Pucelles were bought from a Madame Billerey – her domaine had an amazing collection of vineyards. Jean-Michel’s grandfather had half a hectare of pinot in here.
Just a little more open than the Pucelles – an airy impression. Also very, very mineral but here is more sense of width over the palate – a subtle depth of flavour that suggests a reduction but it’s not properly evident. Great finishing again – so long…
The following all sampled form barrel:
2020 Corton-Charlemagne
Domaine plus 50% from 2 other sources, Aloxe, Pernand and ‘Charlemagne’
Super clarity of fruit though a little barrel reduction at the base. Fuller, more mouth-filling than the last two wines – a little extra density of finishing flavour here – seemingly a step up but less clarity of mid-palate flavour today vs the last 3… Give it time.
Mainly domaine with a little additional from the Chassagne-side.
Here is much aromatic volume; complex, oak spiced, beautiful fruit too. Here is certainly extra – but this is a no fat Bâtard, this is racy as well as concentrated – there is already everything here that you wish for – except for what comes from the benefit of your patience – bravo!
A nicely open nose – like the last but without the accent of barrel. Unsurprisingly, more direct, much fresher – the acidity more insinuating here. But then the waves of fresh flavour flow over the palate and I’ve already forgotten about the acidity – so long and insinuating. Great wine…
From the Chassagne side.
Not a fully open nose but there is some clarity of ripe yellow citrus – but fresh citrus. Mouth-filling, more composed than the Chevalier. Layered, ultra-complex. Ultra-stony. Ultra long too. Not quite the top definition of the last couple today but in many other directions you have more and more. It will be an excellent Montrachet – which effectively means great wine!