Tasted in Beaune with David Croix, 14 December 2021.
Domaine des Croix
2 Rue Colbert
21200 Beaune
Tel: +33 3 80 22 41 81
More reports for Domaine des Croix
David on 2020:
It was interesting that all year long I found it quite windy – pruning decisions always had to be adjusted because of that – certainly the first part of the growing season. Rather an easy growing season, no mildew, a bit of oïdium. We started and finished our harvest in August – the first time ever for the latter. I chose to wait a little even then, accepting a little higher alcohols for more confidence in the maturity. 29 hl/ha on average – that’s a bit more than in 2019. No late malos here but some of the fermentations with 14° needed some help. The hardest part of the vintage was choosing the date to pick.
The wines…
Another grand result chez des Croix – there are so many great wines here but the Corton Vigne au Saint is one that I directly recall as one of the best samples of the vintage!
This mainly went into David’s Bourgogne in previous years – but he’s now happy enough to let it stand on its own
Such a broad and fresh nose, lots of wc perfume – super. Ooh that’s beautifully direct and detailed and mouth-watering. The stems are overt but not gothic – all the same, keep this 5 years – great Savigny.
2020 Aloxe-Corton Les Boutières
A nose that’s getting finer and finer with air – lovely, redder fruit. More apple, rounder richer but never lacking mouth-watering energy. Hmm, beautiful finish!
2020 Beaune
Hmm, silky, wide, nicely shaped. Just enough structure to match the silk. A great finish for a villages!
Wow – what a perfumed, floral and whole-cluster nose – great! Mineral, fluidity, fine and precise detail. Bravo!
Such a broad nose, again, such a perfumed nose. A bit more impact to this wine – still freshness and mobile frush flavour – lucid wine. Bravo finishing, bravo Savigny again.
2020 Beaune 1er Tuvillains
Ex Champy via some Paris investors… there was also some in 2016 – almost – which went into the generic 1er. 80-year-old vines
Starting a little reductive only slowly starting to show more perfume – but what perfume – still, less intense than the others. Hmm, this melts beautifully over the palate, dark fruit, some structure but no tannic grain. I love the finishing intensity of darker fruit.
A broader, more muscular nose – but what a perfume! Broad, concentrated, with freshness – so floral too. A wine for keeping but great Beaune – indeed just great wine!
A cool area, with shallow topsoil closer to Pommard.
A more elegant perfume – less impact but no less gorgeous. More mouth-filling, more sophisticated structure, so complex. Nearly always my favourite here and, again, a great wine…
Such a broad and open nose – of course, it’s perfumed – a little more clarity than the Pertuisots this vintage. Extra clarity here, a certain fluidity despite the concentration. Maybe this gets the nod as wine of this Beaune cellar in 2020!
Wow – simply wow – such an airy start but here is also a concentration of aroma with vivid clarity. Mobile, complex, nicely structural – this is a great wine and probably the best thing I’ve smelled this year! – One of the most memorable wines of this vintage for sure.
Here the nose is a little deeper, a little more sullen and less giving – in isolation it would be super! Sleek, more direct style, cool fruit, layered flavour. Potentially a great wine in preparation but less ‘ready’ than the Vigne au Saint today…
Et le white:
2020 Corton-Charlemagne
Broad – muscular again – a little chalky too. Supple, actually quite calm, slowly mobile in the flavour but properly mineral too. Fine clarity but a bit more elevage needed here I think…