Tasted with Mark Fincham and sometimes Pascal Marchand (right, pictured with Amandine Marchand too) in Nuits St.Georges, 08 December 2021.
Marchand-Tawse
9 Rue Julie Godemet
21700 Nuits-Saint-Georges
Tel: +33 3 80 20 37 32
www.marchand-tawse.com
More reports for Maison Marchand-Tawse & Domaine Tawse
Mark on 2021:
“We’ve always been well priced but we can attempt to cover as best we can what the 2021 vintage has done to us – the bottom line being that it has increased our prices a lot. 2016 was, for instance in Vosne, frost-free so for us, 2021 is much worse than 2016 in terms of volumes. And this year we triaged as much as 20% from the fruit that we did collect – but we have the rewards from that – we can certainly see from some of our purchases that they were less attentive to sorting.”
Mark on 2020:
“We finished our picking on the 2nd of September – a week earlier than in 2018 which was a hot year. I don’t look at 2020 as a hot year, rather one that started a bit earlier. I remember, for two weeks in Mazis from the end of July to mid-August absolutely nothing had happened – it was ‘only’ 34°C but every day and the vines had seemingly shut down – that was in 2018 – and in 2020 they just never did… There’s a dichotomy between the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits the degrees were higher earlier in the south, picking at 14° in Côte de Beaune while the Geverys were still 12.8°… It was also a fantastic year for whites – with good yields but not too big.”
The wines…
There are many excellent wines here – and clearly some great ones too – though when I visited, the phase of elevage was emphasising the oak more than is typical for this producer. This should fade and my notes become rather conservative. The whites showed beautifully well.
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Bourgogne Côte d’Or
60% from CdN – half foudre elevage. This and the next have been racked.
This sample is a little oak-spiced today. Bright – wide and intense, lots of mobile and interesting flavour. That’s a lovely vibrant finish. The best part today.
2020 Marchand-Tawse, 47N Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Again, mainly CdN – Marsannay to Vosne plus a little Savigny villages too.
Again a little oak spiced. A little more mouth-filling – and again full of energy. The middle and finishing flavours are more composed and layered – this is very good!
From Gevery, all destemmed. This is still in barrel
More depth to this nose, a little oak here too but generally more creamy in style. Mouth-filling, more silk to this wine, creamy oak and a super texture. That’s already excellent and when the oak fades it could be a great Bourgogne.
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Côte de Nuits Villages
Lots of whole bunch – vines in Comblanchien and Corgoloin
Still a slight reduction and oak but this is more openly showing some darker fruits. Open, mouth-filling, nicely vibrant – a little easier over the palate than some, melting in style. Lovely!
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Marsannay
Rounder warmer, faintly spiced fruit here – very attractive. Rounder in the mouth too but with no loss of energy or balance – that’s lovely, quite a layered delivery of the fruit flavour. Long too. Excellent!
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Nuits St.Georges
A narrower, deeper, cooler nose. Broader in the mouth, more muscular and slightly structural too. The finish is a beauty, still touched with some dryness but no grain of tannin. Lovely but for being a little patient with. – wait at least 2-3 years…
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Chambolle-Musigny
Deeper and more vibrant nose. The oak is showing in the first flavours but then this is airy and long and very attractive. Slowly fading. This is very good.
2020 Domaine Tawse, Gevrey-Chambertin
Maume vines that were bought in 2011; biodynamic since then. No vines on the Brochon side. 8 different vineyards assembled – 1-4 barrels for each – max 15% wc. Still in barrel – won’t be racked until March…
A wide and pure nose. More mouth-filling and energetic with a sneakily growing depth of finishing flavour – starting a little discreet but this is a wine that opens out beautifully on the palate – finishing deliciously. Nice textured and very fine.
2020 Domaine Tawse, Gevrey-Chambertin Etelois
A deeper and darker fruited wine that slowly opens with higher tones too. Impact of flavour. Wide and with a vibrant depth of great, darker, fruit. Sustaining a good finish. This is very good.
2020 Domaine Tawse, Beaune 1er Tuvillains
Bought in 2011, now 9 years of biodynamics and changes to the pruning ‘seem to have really helped here.’ This racked into tank – bottling in January.
Starting slightly reductive. A little gas and plenty of reduction. Wide and easy finishing. Simple but tasty today…
2020 Domaine Tawse, Beaune 1er Les Teurons
Also a bit reductive but with a clean freshness too. Less overtly reductive on the palate – wider and finer – dark fruit, nicely textured. That’s going to be very good – the finish already is…
2020 Domaine Tawse, Beaune 1er Clos du Roi
2014 was the first vintage.
Plenty of colour. Forward and airy at the same time – very attractive. Fuller, lots of energy, great fruit too – this is simply excellent – easy to see!
2020 Domaine Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Lavières
A later ripening area. 40% wc and about 30% new wood for 1ers.
An airy nose, slightly woody today but with flashes of fine dark fruit. This is super in the mouth – energy, driving, never sharp – layered fresh flavour – a super finish. Excellent again.
Again a reductive nose – becoming airier with swirling. Hmm – this is rather good in the mouth – presence and volume but not dense – airy, beautiful fruit – still a reductive accent here but this could be a great wine!
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Mores St.Denis Clos des Ormes
A bigger nose, slightly spiced but becoming purer and purer. Round with a nice line of flavour, properly mouth-watering and elegantly tasty in the finish. Yum!
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Nuits St.Georges 1er Corvées Pagets
A deeper nose, darker, almost sullen fruit with some high-toned barrel-spice. Structural but nicely shaped in the mouth. There’s tannin and a slowly mouth-watering style to this fruit flavour – becoming more and more intense. Keep this at least 3 years before attacking!
2020 Domaine Tawse, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Champaux
Usually last picked – still in barrel.
A wide and airy style to this oak-spiced and faintly reductive wine. Mouth-filling, lots of flavour energy here – that’s super and shows slightly floral inflected flavours. Long and lovely…
All destemmed.
A warmer oak spice from this nose. Rounder, beautiful texture but with a line of fine and intense flavour. The mouth-watering flavour coating the palate. This could be a great one again – haunting in the finish – it’s certainly already excellent…
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Corton
From Vergennes & Rognets
A large, open, nose of fine freshness – one of the most open today. Frank, incisive, great purity and intensity. Oh-so-mouthwatering. That’s really excellent!
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Echézeaux
Deeply coloured – a big nose too – spiced but with flashes of brilliant fruit. A tannic grain amongst the energy here – wide flavoured – not flabby perhaps missing the clarity of the best but still good.
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Clos St.Denis
Large but airy nose – some oak spice included. Mouth-filling – nice energy, a bit more clarity than the Echéz – some coffee-oak in the flavours. This needs time – but more for the oak accents to fade than for anything structural… Very good.
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Clos de la Roche
More direct and fresh aroma. Mouth-filling, faintly framed with a fine grain of tannin. Fine fruit with a slightly mineral accent. Slowly fading in the finish – that’s a fine finish. Very good again.
2020 Marchand-Tawse, Clos de Vougeot
A more sinuous and silky nose – this goes deep. Direct, fine shape – sweeping flavour here. Growing with mouth-watering complexity. This is really a super wine – Excellent!
Two small parcels of old vines, near the bottom of the vineyard but they are old vines – ‘The ‘Maume’ vines produce very consistent wines from Gevrey. All destemmed.
An airy and complex nose – this is lovely and stands out in the context of most others today. Plenty of oak in the flavour but lots of interesting flavour here – very complex and very delicious. Excellent wine, maybe a great Mazoyères…
2020 Domaine Tawse, Mazis-Chambertin
‘The Petits-Mazis of tiny bunches, 87-year-old vines, it makes no sense to try to destem them. The father of Bertrand made the wines in 1980s-90s, Bertrand started from about 2001 – his wines were great in great years. Their vines are really great – more than one great vigneron of Gevrey will tell you so. If possible would make massale selections from the vines of Maume – the wines of those vines have such magical energy – clones are all the same but these vines have personality.’
Less open but with a fine width of slightly darker fruit. Fuller, deeper, more cushioned wine – there’s a very different style here – but the finish is slowly lingering and super.
2020 Domaine Tawse, Musigny
Destemmed with scissors – sometimes 2-3 berries still attached to one another
Also a little reduction in this wine – otherwise an airy easy style to it. Supple, mouth-filling, faintly grained with tannin but nothing is dry. Certainly a haunting finish here. Discrete today…
First three bottled, all the rest are in tank:
Les whites:
2020 Bourgogne Chardonnay
Sources change quite a lot but in this vintage, all from the bottom of Puligny commune
A little toastiness at the core but fine and direct citrus fruit too. Vibrant, wide – ooh this is easy to enjoy and full of joyful flavour. The nose needs to come around but the flavours are delicious!
2020 Meursault
Hmm – here’s a nose that’s more in place – wide, pure, plenty of slightly mineral depth too. Sinuous flavour, slightly structural, nothing hard – great-shaped wine. Simply excellent finishing with a lick of phenolic texture!
2020 Domaine Savigny 1er Les Vergelesses
2014 the first vintage
Forward and with intensity and freshness. Mouth-filling, a small softening of the edges, but direct, energetic agrumes – maybe a little pineapple too. Fresh and wide – delicious finishing…
2020 Meursault 1er Genevrières
Mineral and complex – slightly hard structure but still inviting. Nothing hard about the first flavour impression here – a slight cushion, tons of complexity – mobile flavour – always changing – over the palate. That’s currently just a nose short of being a great wine!
Le and En Charlemagne
A nicely vibrant width of aroma. More attack here – super width – structural shape but nothing hard. Chiselled, with tension. That’s is a great wine – great Charlemagne.