Tasted in Premeaux with François Ambroise, 23 November 2023.

Maison Ambroise
8, rue de l’Eglise
21700 Premeaux Prissey
Tel: +33 3 80 62 30 19
www.ambroise.com
François’s Instagram
More reports with Domaine Ambroise

François on 2023:
“Oh yes – the cellar is full! For us it’s about 20% more volume than in 2022 – I hardly ever see more than 40 hl/ha in my reds but I saw some with 50 hl/ha in this vintage.”

François on 2022:
“Just 5 wines are bottled half of what remains will be done in December – in 2 weeks – and the rest in February. Not the easiest vintage in the cuverie despite grapes that looked clean and healthy – but in the end there was low acidity / high pHs with high ripeness and potential alcohols – 13-5-14.5° so it wasn’t so easy to ferment. I worried that the vintage might be lacking energy but the wines hardly show that. It was hard to keep the tension in the whites but I still think it a really good vintage for both colours.”

The wines…

A very good range from François – dotted with some excellent wines…

2022 Côteaux Bourguignons Lettre de Louise
A textured depth of red fruit – very inviting. Supple, fine concentration. Long, tasty wine!

2022 Bourgogne Côte d’Or
They own almost 7 hectares of Bourgogne – all grapes from the Premeaux sector – Les Chaillots, Les Grands Chaillots.
A more vibranct and incisive width but still strong aromatics. More structure – a line of mouth-watering finishing flavour with good intensity. That’s going to be lovely but give it some time.

2022 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits
From Villiers La Faye, similar oak treatment to the previous. This was in the Bourgogne before but now the vines are old enough- nearly 20…
Finer – narrower nose. Expansive, fine acidity – a frame of grainless but faintly drying tannin – concentrated finishing – tasty finishing.

2022 Bourgogne Côte d’Or Vieilles-Vignes
75-year-old vines, on average. One of only 2 wines in 2022 where stems are included – 30% in this case.
That’s a lovely nose, complex, slightly floral perfumed. More mouth-filling, framed with slightly drier tannin today but still with no grain. More villages level of performance – as usual.

2022 Cote de Nuits Villages
From 3 sectors near the Clos de Marechale and Clos de l’Arlot.
A little floral again but over more depth of darker fruit. Cooler and broader flavour with more fluidity in its delivery. Super finishing Keep 2 years and enjoy – simply excellent wine.

2022 Cote de Nuits Villages En St.Seine
First vintage for this – old vines.
Hmm – you have a really broad nose here, complex, concentrated red fruit. Supple, really velvety texture – I love this – a big but beautiful wine. Simply excellent!

2022 Beaune 1er Tuvillains
Made this wine with the same contract for 16 years, but now owned vines.
Darker, a hint of roast to this nose – it could be the barrel. Very silky and refined tannin – super growing width of shimmering flavour – just a nose short of excellent today…

2022 Vosne-Romanée aux Damaudes​
Hmm – opens out nicely in the glass – complex and spiced. A little grain frames this flavour. Good finishing intensity. That will be a very good one…

2022 Nuits St.Georges​
6 different parcels in the domaine – all south of Nuits.
There’s a depth of darker fruit here. Full, complex but with a great energy and complexity of flavour – despite the structure I’m finding a nice fluidity to this flavour – super finishing – keep 5 years!

2022 Nuits St.Georges Vieilles-Vignes​
From Les Longecourts.
A more airy width to this nose – dark fruit like the previous. More airy and cool fruited – classy fruit – again framed with some slightly drying tannin but also grainless. That’s a super wine.

2022 Nuits St.Georges 1er Rue de Chaux
There’s not much soil here and what there is, is hard!
A calmer width of aroma – despite its 100% new oak. Good extra energy here – the tannin with a faint grain but also the fluidity and almost juiciness (not the same) of flavour. Keep 5 years for sure but this could also be super.

2022 Nuits St.Georges 1er Vaucrains
Next to the Les St.Georges of Thibaut Liger-Belair. Also all new barrels, mainly large format.
Hmm that’s got an extra floral note to add to a width of interest. Super and quite silky tannin – a wine of concentration and velour, yet… I find it also generous and texturally sophisticated this year – that’s a simply excellent wine!

2022 Clos de Vougeot Grand Maupertuis
A fermage contract. All new oak – 0.17 ha.
An elegant, louche, width of easy and confidently attractive aroma. There is structure of course – red fruit hangs from the architecture of this wine – decent clarity too. Not a great Clos de Vougeot but a very proper one – and surprisingly open.

2022 Corton Le Rognets
Domaine, a 0.66 hectare parcel. About 14.5° – ‘it’s definitely ripe!’
An airy width of darker fruit – it goes deep too. Linear, very silky, cool and almost mineral despite the ample dark fruit with a faint cocoa complexity. I really like the textural and cool width of flavour here – delicious…

Les Whites…
All DIAM – the white production is normally about 1/3 of the domaine:

2022 Bourgogne Aligoté
75-year-old average vine age planted by grand-father. This bottled in Sept. Only with tank and foudre elevage.
Some savouriness in the middle – but a ripeness and roundness of fruit around it. Incisive, slightly with CO2, but a delicious citrus energy here – subtly mineral but this is citrus-fruit-driven and very tasty.

2022 Côteaux Bourguignons Lettre d’Eloise
Only foudre elevage. All chardonnay.
Less sweet but quite expansive in the mouth. Rounder, some energy in the middle and finishing flavours – today, less delicious than the aligoté.

2022 Bourgogne Côte d’Or Chardonnay
Half barrel and foudre with about 20% new barrels.
A more incisive nose, even a suggestion of ‘toasty!’ More direct, cool fruit, generous, a little honey and salinity combined – actually, more a salted-caramel. Good.

2022 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Blanc
Premeaux from a little behind the Clos de Marechale – there’s 10% pinot gris in this. Plus vines in Villiers le Faye and large format barrels.
There’s more perfume to this nose – the most attractive by far – so far! Broad but with plenty of cool energy – I like the texture too, despite the apparent oak. Finishing long and quite tasty.

2022 Saint Romain​
A single parcel.
A bigger, much more forward nose – slowly settling with some ripe citrus fruit. Hmm – here is both depth of flavour and energy – the best flavour by far – cool, almost fluid that’s an excellent wine – easily the tastiest of these even if still quite generous for a St.Romain.

2022 Chassagne-Montrachet La Gujonne
But here’s a really effusive nose – showing lots of interesting top notes. Large scale again, generous and fleshy – the barrel quite obvious in the finishing flavours – I’d wait at least 2 years for this – no problem, it’s DIAM – it’s more than very good wine.