Tasted with Guillaume Tardy in Vosne-Romanée, 24 November 2020.
Domaine Jean Tardy et Fils
46 Départementale 974,
21700 Vosne-Romanée
Tel: +33 3 80 61 11 86
domainejeantardy.canalblog.com
More reports with Domaine Jean Tardy
Guillaume on 2021:
“In 2021 we got 40-45% less – but really not much to triage some of the dry rot from June. We started harvesting early – 18 September. Lucky to have added 1.2 hectares of Cote de Nuits Villages so this can help a lot in recovering the lost value.”
Guillaume on 2020:
“2020 was a bit like 2019 – about 25% fewer grapes than a year like 2017. We started harvesting 28 August and finished on the 31st! The acidities are certainly higher than in 2019 but there’s plenty of malic so that calmed a lot after the malos… In the end we just suffered from the dryness – the lack of water – it wasn’t as hot as in 18 and 19. We could have had a great volume too if there had just been one or two decent rains in the summer. I think my best vintage here is 2016 – but the 20s might turn out to be a match for that!”
The wines…
Really a fine result for Guillaume this year – volume excepted. Always a great address for the less grand cru obsessed drinkers!
2020 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Cuvée Maelie
Named for Guillaume’s daughter. Vines from Conceour, just above Vosne-Romanée; 40-year-old vines, no new oak, rather with one and two-year-old barrels
Plenty of colour. That’s a nose with a nice purity – a good invitation. Direct, easy, a little mineral but growing a proper intensity in the finish with a fine red fruit. I’d like to see a bit more weight but the finish is super and tasty too.
2020 Fixin La Place
The lieu-dit, near Fissey. 45-year-old vines, near the route de grand cru.
Faintly reductive, hence, darker aromas – but again with a good freshness. Fuller, nicely fresh but also concentrated. I like this a lot – structural with crunchy fruit, not a lot of overt tannin. A fine and quite sophisticated shape and texture
2020 Chambolle-Musigny Les Athets
50 year-old vines.
Always one of my favourite wines here and from the get-go this is floral and pure and just so attractive. Rounder, a touch more concentration – also some structure but nothing hard and it’s beautifully mouth-watering too. That’s another fine vintage for this wine – simply excellent.
From the north of the village
Always the lowest acidity wine of the domaine – I’m happy to have a touch more this year!’
A smaller nose, a monotone today but of very pure red fruit. Harmonious, beautifully fresh, really a mouth-watering delicious thing. The mouth-perfume is excellent – it’s a great year for this wine with a great finish too – bravo!
2020 Nuits St.Georges La Bas du Combe Vielles-Vignes
80-year-old vines – on the border of Vosne and Nuits – the oldest of the domaine.
A round and cushioned nose, slightly darker fruit with a great invitation. Fresh, more structure but also mouth-filling and wrapping well the structure so there are no hard parts visible. The tannin is very fine-grained and with practically no dryness, indeed in the finish there’s no grain either. A Nuits that’s a proper Nuits on one hand but with some elegance on the other. This is another excellent wine.
2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Champerrier Vieilles-Vignes
60-year-old vines whose roots go directly into the base rock.’
A width of higher-toned perfume over a base of, today, more compact but concentrated fruit. Mouth-filling with some richness of fruit balanced by the mouth-watering and deliciously fresh flavour. That’s a really super finish – simply great finishing for a villages – that’s another fine and excellent wine.
2020 Nuits S.Georges 1er Aux Argillas
‘From the north of Nuits, not the southern Argillières!’ Just under Thorey
Not a large nose but very fine, indeed very finely divided complexity too. Mouth-filling and with plenty of structure – this is most obviously the wine for keeping but it’s mouth-watering and has a very impressive finishing line of flavour – long, long with a bit of tannic dryness. Be patient but in 5+ years you will be happy!
2020 Echézeaux Les Treux
On the flat near Grands-Echézeaux. 80-year-old vines from 0.3 hectares. All new oak this year.
A new barrel and you can see the spice but there’s also a very nice depth to this nose – it’s tighter in the width today though. A little touch of reduction in the flavours, but these are flavours to saturate rather than invigorate your palate today – yet the texture is excellent and there’s clearly the balance and concentration to deliver an excellent wine in the future – probably worth returning after 8-10 years as there is much potential here…