Tasted in Marsannay with Pierre Bart, 17 November 2021.
Domaine Bart
23 Rue Moreau
21160 Marsannay-la-Côte
Tel: +33 3 80 51 49 76
More reports with Domaine Bart
Pierre on 2021:
“Actually, 2021 not too bad. We were 25% down and of course, there’s practically no white. It was the top and the bottom of the hills that took most of the frost and here there’s clearly only about half, or less, yield but the rest was fine.”
Pierre on 2020:
“In 20 we had a bit less. A year with a strong extraction – density, richness, plenty of tannin – but good acidity despite not a lot of malic. The quantity of juice to solids was low and during vinifications it produced a lot of foam which was a pain but otherwise I can’t complain. It was a vintage that merited a bit more whole-clusters to reduce the mark of the vintage a little. We didn’t go above 20% but I think it would have been possible. ”
The wines…
A fine range which includes an exemplary quartet of Marsannay – all great wines in 2020.
Nothing has been bottled:
2020 Bourgogne Côte d’Or
Starts wild but grows with freshness and purity. Open, plenty of scale, mouth-watering, subtly touched by a nearly grainless tannin but attractively creamy finishing – not obviously from the oak. Wait 18 months but here’s a super wine.
2020 Marsannay
8 different parcels assembled for this ‘generic’ Marsannay
A tighter nose but with a bit of extra fineness. Rounder, lovely energy, mobile and mouth-watering. There’s clarity and waves of flavour here. That’s a very moreish finish with freshness, mouth-watering flavour with a touch of sucrosity
2020 Marsannay Finottes
This is a 2-hectare monopole of the domaine. A triangle of vines between Longeroies and Echezots that produced only 2 hl/ha in 2016! Sandy and quite deep soil.
A deeper nose, dark-fruited, good purity. Fuller, cooler, silkier. A small touch of tannin and a show of more wc perfume in the middle flavours. Also nicely finishing. Lovely.
2020 Marsannay Ouzeloy
A fairly large area of vines in Ouzeloy, but not that many producers use this label – mainly it’s this domaine and Roty. Quite young vines.
A wider nose, higher tones too, growing floral. Wide, more muscle and structure. There’s concentration here but also a balancing and attractive finish – fine and mouthwatering. Yum – Excellent Marsannay
2020 Marsannay Longeroies
A blend of high and low parcels – the vineyard with marne at the base and limestone at the top.
Starting with a little reduction – also a little more compact today vs the last. But large-sacled and very energetic, almost juicy flavour. That’s lovely – I actually slightly prefer the shape of the last but this has a super finish and is excellent – mine is only a style preference
2020 Marsannay La Montagne
Not a large nose but one that offers glimpses of complexity, coffee even – and I’ve not had one yet today! – Nice. Cool, mouth filling, lovely texture, – really a mouth-watering wine with a subtle wc perfume to these flavours. Yum!
Always late harvested, vines above Finottes. The domaine’s biggest cuvée with over 2 ha of vines, and in more than one sector, ‘Some parts are easier than others, some parts go into the Bourgogne, sometimes – it works well in a warm vintage though as it’s a cold area and is always last harvested – but has fewer problems with rot because of the breeze that’s always here.’ The stems hardly ripen in this cooler place, so always destemmed.
Colder – a different tank but the nose is vibrant and dark fruited. Ooh – this has extra – juicy and concentrated flavour, texturally super. Large wine but perfectly packaged – bravo! Often my favourite Marsannay from here
That’s a super nose – more blackberry fruit complexity here. Fresh, fresh, cool dark fruit – juicy again – maybe a touch more purity than the last – easy – bravo!
Under Clos de Jeu, shared with Chateau de Marsannay – marne (marl) with oyster shells in the soil.
Another where the nose is more compact to start but slowly grows with fine dark fruit – never the intensity of the last but with the same esprit. Again a width of flavour with energy – more direct, even more clarity and mouthwatering interest. Bravo!
Bottled just before harvest. Malo was gone before the alcoholic was done – ‘it’s different!’
There’s more density to this nose – it needs plenty of air to open. Wow like another small step in the same direction taken by the last. Gorgeously silky – brilliantly finish – it’s Marsannay but it’s also grand vin.
2020 Marsannay Champs Salamon
A slightly reductive but silky width of darker fruit aroma. More overtly structural wine than the Clos du Roi. Almost juicy with fine energy. The finish with fine energy too. You can’t go wrong with this.
2020 Santenay
Redder fruit with a faint spice. A little impression of reduction in the flavour but this is open and cool-fruited, redder like the nose. Quite complex and even saline in this finish.
2020 Fixin
Two parcels blended.
There’s concentration here but freshness too – slowly accented with a lovely floral note. Mouth-filling with freshness, plenty of dark fruit and not a strong structure. Very pretty in the finish.
This is usually quite a late bottling ‘it always needs more time in elevage.’
More airy and open but still supported by lots of dark concentration – really very attractive with air. Lovely in the mouth – really very slky for a Fixin. Beautifully mouthwatering. Long with a faint coating of tannin but no grain. That’s a great Fixin!
2020 Chambolle-Musigny Les Veroilles
This won’t be bottled before March/April next year.
Also an airy nose – almost silky with floral accents. Deeper, more mineral style, more open shape too. Quite a lovely mouth-watering finish. Structurally different, as it should be, but I prefer the Hervelets – this is sneakily long though.
2020 Bonnes-Mares
Vines next to those of de Vogüé in Chambolle – the largest part originally from Clair-Daü, plus 0.12 hectares via Safer from a cousin – ‘That was the sole sale at a proper price in the last 15 years!’ The terroir is mainly terres rouges and contains some of the oldest vines of the domaine – ‘40% of which are more than 100 years old and are used for the massale selections of the domaine.’
There’s some weight behind this aroma but a very fine, airy, complexity is what lifts from the glass. Ooh – but this is good! Mouth-filling but not about brutal density – there is a silky. lithe, muscle to this wine followed by a really impressive length. For keeping as long as you want. Excellent, beautifully balanced BM!
2020 Clos de Bèze
The least ready of all these noses. More impressively structured and energetic than the BM! That’s got a superbly relaxed approach in the melting flavour – there’s more wc in this than the other cuvées but you wouldn’t notice. Here’s a wine that is largely still latent but superbly shaped.