Tasted in Marsannay with Sylvain Pabion, 28 November 2023.
Château Marsannay
2 Rue des Vignes
21160 Marsannay-la-Côte
Tel: +33 3 80 51 71 11
www.chateau-marsannay.com
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More reports with the Château de Marsannay
Sylvain on 2023:
“2021 was very heterogeneous; some parts were down 70% but later growing parts started with plenty of fruit.”
Sylvain on 2022:
“A warm year but without the sunny characteristics of more recent vintages. June was very wet and I think really changed the characteristics of the resulting wines – we had 200 mm of rain in June. So the vines were not stressed and the grapes had plenty of pulp, and juice – so we ended up with 40 hl/ha and no blocking despite the heat that would follow – so still not a Mediterranean style of aromatic. I find the wines very aromatic, with medium sugars and they are supple wines with good fluidity and we will bottle just a little earlier as we have no higher levels of tannins in this vintage. 2022 is the first vintage where the wines are certified Organic -that’s 45 cuvées and 100 ha of vines at the domaine.
The wines…
Another excellent range from this domaine – I wish the reds of Château de Meursault could be as individual as here.
The bottling will start in January and finish in the Springtime. Since 2019 all DIAM Origine here.
Almost the very north of Cote d’Or in Dijon, here it’s steep, an amphitheatre. 2 ha – the total is about 5 ha.
Hmm – that’s a silky nose – pretty red fruit. Broad, mouth-filling, delicious – ooh that’s a very fine Bourgogne – super.
2022 Marsannay Clos de Jeu
1.8 ha – ‘and seems to offer a very regular style.’ A large younger parcel of vines which are all destemmed.
More direct, fine freshness. Wider and more open, fine texture – juicy red fruit with just a hint of wood – which will quickly fade. It will be delicious.
2022 Marsannay Les Es Chezots
Almost 2 hectares – 0.5 ha very old and practically dead so we will have to replant so have replanted 0.6 ha in the last years – the rest is pretty old too but in much better shape. Practically the latest area that we harvest…
Hmm, that’s very floral – A beautiful perfume – what an invitation. More weight in the middle of the palate, juicy, mobile, so much energy but not too much. Ooh – simply excellent wine – I love it!
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin
Multiple parcels assembled here – about 7-8 parcels that encircle the village.
Also a little (different) floral note below a different fruit too – deeper, darker but pure. Hmm, I love this texture and the melting flavour. The flavour is intense in this finish – impressive – keep two years to let it open out more but this has super potential.
2022 Marsannay Grasses Têtes
Quite a large parcel.
A more open and airy style – the redder berries more prominent in this aroma. Hmm. Direct, lovely shape, juicy again but with a more linear style – that’s a wine with a lovely precision – a lovely finish!
2022 Marsannay Favières
Deeper, faintly spiced dark fruit – very different – but still very engaging. The fruit more forward, lovely texture and with a juicy, fluid style, a small velour of tannin in a finish of dark fruited sucrosity. Very tasty wine and again long!
2022 Marsannay Langeroies
The first aromas are small and high-toned but behind is something much more large-scale. In the mouth the scale is more overt, layered and yet still juicy – it impresses but it’s also clearly a complexity that needs a little more elevage – but here will really impress.
2022 Marsannay La Plantelle
This is a sub-lieu-dit of Champs Perdrix and Quartiers – slated for 1er cru in that project
There’s both power and a nice direction to this wine. Very broad, there’s concentration and suavity here – extra depth, almost creamy in the finishing flavour too. A larger wine and very impressive.
2022 Marsannay Champs Perdrix Blanc
Use only half the normal amount of sulfur for this – and none before the fermentation.
Vibrant, direct zesty – a fine invitation. Mouth-filling, lots of sucrosity, the fruit golden in style but balanced with an impressive intensity.
2022 Marsannay Les Grands Vignes
2ha from here – this a no sulfur wine – ‘we always keep a few barrels of this back for a no sulfur wine.’
Open, easy, pretty red fruit. Quite incisive, mouth-filling, with freshness and then more juicy and full in the finish. Tasty wine.
Mid-slope, less than 0.3 ha – but still important for us as it represents a certain style of wine from the appellation. Almost 2/3 wc. Elevage will be nearly 2 years.
A shy nose today but complex and perfumed – it’s a fine invitation. Mouth-filling the complexity of the clusters is overt today – this will get some more elevage – it’s on a good road to be a potentially great Marsannay – I‘d be drinking this not before it’s 2-3 years old but with great anticipation.
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Champs Chenys
Lightly perfumed, hinting at structure – that’s a lovely nose. Large scale in the mouth – power with fluidity – but here is material – and such a wide finish – that’s super.
2022 Marsannay Au Champ Salomon
A little more power to this nose. Hmm, melting, plenty of depth to this flavour – a velvet texture – that’s really a beauty and showing very well today too. A super finish too – I love it.
2022 Marsannay Boivin
‘Not far from Grasses-Tetes but this is completely different with a fault of Comblanchien limestone here.’
A more linear and darker red fruit nose. The flavour of the wc visible like the Clos du Roy – rich finishing – tons of wine here. That’s incredibly impressive.
2022 Marsannay Clemonjot
Spicy whole clusters here – that’s more individual and interesting. Really the perfume of the rose in the mouth – an airy, fluid delivery of flavour that is intense and a little smoky. Initially I’d keep this 5 years – there’s lots of wc complexity but a clean and lip-smacking, moreish finish too. Excellent wine!
2022 Fixin Au Petit Crais
Over 2 ha in Fixin, this the bottom of the hill.
A more vertical nose – lots of depth and plenty of red fruit. Energetic, some gas, also extra sucrosity here – darker red fruit but the sweetness is carried quite well by the energy. The finish almost graphite accented. Just a hint too sweet for me today…
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Champeaux
Never more than 30 hl/ha – old vines, some as old as 100. 0.28 hectares.
A modestly open width of aroma – darker fruit. A sizzling dark fruit energy – wonderfuly clarity of middle and finishing flavour – that’s super!
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Bel Air
Next to the forest above Bèze and Ruchottes
A pretty and airy width of aroma – much finer. There’s structure here but juicy, mouth-watering fruit too – That’s a beautifully proportioned wine – fine but strong structure – like porcelain. A wonderful wine!
Worked by horse since 2017. Small volume here so bottled earlier – plenty of rain here in 2022. 1903 vines
A pretty and airy width of aroma – classically spiced. That’s beautifully shaped in the mouth – so delicious and complex in the middle and finishing flavours – open and completely delicious – what a wine! Bravo!
Vines opposite Grands Echézeaux – 0.27 ha in Garenne, 1923 vines.
Also airy, finely divided almost granular complexity – like a Vosne – hinting of much depth. Really mouth-filling, really concentrated but carried by fine energy and a finishing fluidity – really excellent CV – grand vin…
2022 Echezeaux En Orveaux
Aromatic, some of that from the barrel – but it’s fine. But that’s a beautifully precise wine – of fluidity and energy – with a very fine flavour intensity in the middle and finishing flavour. That’s a wonderful Echézeaux – really – and so persistent!
2022 Chambertin
This not bottled.
From a new barrel but actually quite a guarded nose. In the mouth there is great scale but still the fluidity of the previous wine – the complexity hits you in the finish – here it’s panoramic. A beautiful wine – ‘only’ excellent Chambertin but great wine!
Again bottled. ‘It was always explosive but only fruit, fruit, fruit… I tried to lose a little of the monolithic fruit quality this year by keeping some stems.’
More open, airy and hyper-attractive volume of aroma too. Silky, slowly more velour, direct, fine structure. What a great finish, more direct, complex – bravo in this finish – great wine – vibrating long with very faint bitters. Yes!