Tasted with François Bitouzet, in their new cuverie in Meursault – their 3rd cuverie! 25 November 2022.
Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur
Rue de la Combe
21190 Volnay
Tel: +33 3 80 21 62 13
www.bitouzet-prieur.com
More reports with Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur
In the year of frost which was 2021, this is clearly a domaine with much more red wine than white…
François on 2022:
“2022 is generous – we tasted our reds yesterday and they are very pure. They have nice energy. 25 August was our starting point and the acidity is good and the alcohol not too high – the quantity of reds was really generous. We use stems in the reds – it’s not just a personal signature, it helps, I believe, to bring the best interpretation of the climat. Each vintage is a blank sheet of paper – we decide first on the maturity then the process of vinification – I like to be restrained, discrete in my approach – even if it sometimes hard to ‘do nothing.’ ”
François on 2021:
“All have been filtered in the last couple of weeks and some sulfuring was done yesterday – all done by the lunar calendar with bottling planned for week 50 of this year. Our yield was about 30% of a normal volume – there wasn’t just frost of course – mid June to almost mid-July it was very, very wet – the dryer weather came from about 10th July which paused the worries of mildew. We delayed picking as there was rain just before we planned – which brought some concerns about botrytis again – it was a lot of work in triage. We have almost all the cuvées but it’s true that the regionals did better in terms of volume – because they were less advanced at the time of the frost – it was a frost that brought minus at both the bottom and the top of the hills in 2021.”
The wines…
Tatsing here I normally have a preference for the whites or the reds – but in 2021 I have no preference – there are great wines in both colours this year!
For some of the ‘lower’ wines François is using a technical cork – an amalgam in the middle with layers of cork on either side – “But I don’t like DIAM” he says.
2021 Bourgogne Aligoté Les Grandes Terres
A pretty and precise nose. Good width and really fine clarity – fresh energy. That’s a really attractive finishing width – a beauty!
2021 Bourgogne Chardonnay
Normally, two parcels in Meursault
More depth to this aroma – still pure and fresh – very attractive. More mouth-filling with more vibrant energy – really mouthwatering. Very moreish – that’s a simply excellent Bourgogne
2021 Meursault
Blend of Corbins and Clos des Cromin assembled because the volumes were so small.
A little more depth to this aroma – the fruit has a more pronounced lemon with some ripeness showing – flighty and fresh. Fuller, but so transparent, beautifully proportioned and with a hint of floral finishing flavour too. Simply beautiful, sweeping, delicious flavour.
4 barrels instead of 12.
More floral again. This is so vibrant and so attractive – purity and minerality – almost juicy – simply top villages!
2 parcels one right at the top with old vines just across the road from Perrières. The other from the bottom of the vineyard – both about the same size but vinified separately blending when brought into tank.
Yes – extra depth, extra spice – just a perfect example of a step up in quality that’s so obvious in 2021. Direct, concentrated but with such a balance of mouth-watering energy. That’s another really top wine.
2021 Meursault 1er Les Perrières
A nose that’s more direct and concentrated but no less energetic. Fuller – but still absolutely energetic, mineral and extra saline. Classic, cliché Perrières and so good it is too!
Les Rouges…
Oh, that’s a very perfumed nose – the energy of 30% gamay. That sits beautifully on the palate – fluid, complex and perfectly delicious – it’s a simply great wine for so many occasions!
2021 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
90% from Lambots in Meursault and 10% from Volnay.
More depth of aroma here – more breadth. Fine volume – a little more structural – pretty red fruit. Tasty wine!
2021 Volnay
The normal blend in 21 – two parcels – the third of 10% from Petit Gamay is just replanted.
Broader, faintly textured complexity. Sitting well in the mouth – darker red fruit, framed with a modest tannin. Slowly fading. Very tasty wine and finishes with clean, moreish flavours.
2021 Beaune 1er Les Cent Vignes
Broad, growing higher tones – a nice perfume that’s just waiting burst forward here. Fuller, more complex, again very mouth-watering. Super wine.
2021 Volnay 1er Les Aussy
Aussy is often labelled Ronceret today. 0.5 ha here, half planted in 1998, the other half in 1948.
That’s a super perfume – fuller and silkier than the Beaune. Extra clarity and silk, extra intensity. Simply super again.
Fuller again and, again, very perfumed. Vibrant – more structure but clarity too – just so juicy. Vibrant wine and I just love this structural style. Bravo!
2021 Volnay 1er Taillepieds
This Taillepieds has 3 ages of vines. One part replanted in 1998.
A hint of reduction here. Broader, more structural – extra tannin but with zero grain. Finishing ultra-clean. Really a wine to have patience with but with great reward to come, I think.
Dessus, planted in 1983. About 0.25 ha.
Again a hint reductive but seemingly more open and expansive aromas. Again structured but with fabulous finishing clarity. Just a wonderful thing, potentially a great wine!
2021 Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
2 parcels, one on a brown soil in the middle, and the other higher and more white. Roughly 0.75 ha.
Extra colour. The biggest, broadest, aromatic of all these – super perfume – there’s no excess. Large scale, such volume but still with clarity and a not insignificant tannic frame. There is no excess in 21 for this Clos des Chênes – it reminds me of a 99…
Almost 1 ha north after the Clos des Ducs, the only Volnay of the domaine on this side of the village. More grey and white clay here.
The clarity of a Caillerets with extra perfume. Fuller – more generous texture but still completely fresh. The flavours full of florals and concentrated yet completely balanced – bravo – grand vin!