Tasted in Santenay with Antoine Olivier, 02 November 2022.

Domaine Antoine Olivier
5 rue Gaudin
21590 Santenay, France
Tel: +33 (0)3 80 20 61 35
www.antoineolivier.wine
More reports for Domaine Antoine Olivier

​​Antoine on 2021:
“2021 is a very special vintage – I lost 70% in 2-3 days – on the 7th April it was between -6° and -8°C – nothing happened for three weeks after that. A maximum of 9 hl/ha was the result – better in Savigny and Rully – but it was a proper, severe winter frost that was at its worst at the top of the slope. It’s a lighter, higher acidity vintage with less colour, reminiscent of the wines of the 70s and 80s – it was the end of the 80s when extra extraction came into vogue. 2019 was about 40% below average and 2020 was 25% below so we have lost a whole harvest in the last three years. I destemmed everything in 2021 because there was plenty of mildew and other things.”

From 2022, Antoine has another 5 hectares (5.6 ha) from southern Côte Chalonnaise, all Bourgogne level – just one plot!

The wines…

The style of the reds are all open and fresh – modestly concentrated but because of the acidities not modestly intense! Classic, beautiful, pure wines…

Only the aligoté has been bottled but, at stage, nothing else. A Spring bottling is planned:

2021 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Mainly from Santenay
Medium colour. Cushioned cherry notes. Supple, actually a lovely texture and some generosity. Tasty wine with a finishing line of fresh acidity…
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2021 Santenay
Two plots
A narrower but deeper nose of slightly darker fruit and a faint spice. Airy, more elegant fruit and a lovely open structure, mineral, clean and with a little perfume too. Delicious

2021 Santenay les Charmes​
A broader, less deep but fine and clean cherry note. Wide, mouth-watering. Delicate, pure but mouth-watering, almost juicy finishing – properly refreshing and absolutely delicious again.

2021 Santenay 1er Beaurepaire​
The highest 1er cru in the village
More open, higher tones here with some pretty perfume. The acidity seems higher here but it’s also a wine that caresses the palate. The finish is more mineral and very faintly tannic – but without grain. Despite the acidity here is a delicious wine of elegance and finesse.

2021 Savigny-lès-Beaune Petits Liards
Here and Pommard brought 25 hl/ha!
Good aromatic depth, a different fruit profile. More attack, more intensity – not the same finesse but generally more of everything here. Yet again – delicious.

2021 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Peuillets
More depth and width to this aroma. A little gas but broad, clean, incisive even, slowly fading. Very classy!

2021 Pommard Noizons
Another level of aromatic depth. More mouth-filling volume – fresh and mouth-watering – I love the middle and finishing intensity – clean, moreishly flavoured. Simply excellent wine!

Les Blancs…
All DIAM for whites from this vintage, “Probably reds too soon.” All the whites were racked before the 2020 harvest and all got a little sulfur 10 days ago as ‘they were very low’ – they had 12 months without sulfur:

2021 Bourgogne Aligoté Oublie le Cassis
The only bottled wine, from Rully St.Jacques and Bouzeron:
An airy and broad aroma – like the reds with lovely clarity. Mouth-filling, very nicely shaped, width of delicious flavour. Simply super aligoté

2021 Montagny Les Bassees
A more direct and open freshness of fruit but very floral too. A halo of acidity but this melts beautifully over the palate – lovely shimmering flavour in the finish – a wine with a certain acidity but I love it…

2021 Rully St.Jacques​
Broader, with faint apple aromas – ‘yes it needs some sulfur.’ Mouthfilling – plenty of acidity but with less intensity than the Montagny. The finish has tons of flavour interest, it’s delicious.

2021 Santenay Blanc
Normally, there are 3 Santenay cuvées but there will only be one in 2021…
Slightly smoky, but welcoming and inviting. Supple, broad, a growing acid intensity, still a modest cushion to this texture. Clean finishing.

2021 Meursault Les Gorges de Narvaux
Was new here in 2020 – but there’s only 20% of the volume in 2021 – in a new stockinger barrel
A direct nose, slightly oaked. Broad, the most balanced of these whites and long, properly Meursault finishing.

And a few 20s for the road:
Antoine finds his 20s finer than the sunnier, higher alcohol, 19s of the domaine:

2020 Santenay Origin
One of the two oldest plots of the domaine where great grandparents had vines – young vines from 2006 and some vines from the 70s – 20 months of ageing
Broader, deeper, larger in all directions versus the reds of 2021. Mouth-filling but with freshness too – almost fleshy in the finishing flavours and a little floral.

2020 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Peuillets
All whole cluster for this.
More airy, slightly smoky perfumed. Ooh, that’s appealing – slowly melting over the palate. Finishing with a fine and pure line of flavour, eventually, a faint structure is visible