tasting / laying down / 2021 Burgundy
2021 BURGUNDY:THE YEAR THE GODS STOPPED SMILING
Conditions for the 2021 Burgundy vintage were undoubtedly challenging. But while it may not go down as a great year, the best producers were still able to make small quantities of fresh, elegant, energetic, and terroir-transparent wine from a full range of climats, reports Sarah Marsh MW
n 2021, the gods stopped smiling on Burgundy and sent pests and disease to wreak havoc in the vineyards, after smiting with an icy bolt. A hard winter frost nipped the vintage in the bud. This was a blessing in disguise, for the cool conditions would not have ripened a full crop. The results are better than anticipated, but it is not a vintage that made itself. Quality was determined by hard endeavor in the vineyard and winery. In recent vintages, it was difficult to make a bad wine. In 2021, it was a challenge to make a good one.
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Style In challenging vintages, the best vignerons can still produce the most delicious wine. Freshness, energy, elegance, and finesse— the elements come together with ease. Their harmony belies the horrors of the growing season. The top 2021 reds have delightful aromas of red fruit and flowers, and they flow into delicate palates with light and finely textured tannins, where red fruit is balanced with freshness; crisp, bright, and lively. Rarely are they very long, but they have a well-defined start, middle, and end. This is a lighter vintage in all respects. Light in color, tannin, body, and even acidity in many cases. They are delicate, fine, and slim, but the best have intensity. They are distinguished above all by their perfume and texture. The wise producers extracted
carefully. The tannins are present but should be light. It was easy to extract too much, with astringent results. The texture may be fine and gauzy, silky, or crunchy. Limestone terroirs may show characteristic strictness but are rarely severe. The acidity is crisp, but not high.
166 | THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023
High acidity in such a light vintage would taste harsh and accentuate the tannin, whereas this is generally nicely balanced and supported by an appetizing bitterness. This attractive amertume note is very present in this vintage. They have a lucid and vivid feel. There is plenty of energy. Delightful aromas drift across from the nose onto the palate and often extend to the finish; enticingly floral aromas, from delicate white petal, to richer red rose and slightly more exotic spices including anise. Occasionally, there are aromas of soft garden herbs. Aromas are light but intense. It is a particularly floral vintage for Pinot Noir, more so than for Chardonnay. Flowery perfumes combine enticingly with red-cherry aromas and fruit. It is a red-fruit vintage, cherries and soft summer fruits, which speak of a warmer summer than it was. Some lean into blueberry and mixed forest fruit. They are succulent. The sensation of just-ripe fruit with juicy freshness and crunch. Harvest lasted two weeks, and limestone sites are often warmer, so there are varied degrees of ripeness. Some wines have slightly more opulent flavors but remain slim, without the richness of glycerol. Some fruit, however, just didn’t get ripe. The acidity in the resulting wines is more pronounced and emphasizes a green astringency of tannin, even with little extraction. While there is attractive bitterness, there is also an unpleasant version this vintage. Some waited for phenolic ripeness that never arrived, while the fruit flavors developed, giving oddly exotic aromas but bitter greenness, too. Others just have rustic tannin. You may detect a marginally more oaky style in 2021, in both reds and whites, generally with a higher proportion of new
wood for reds. You are unlikely, however, to find it unpleasant, for it normally works with the vintage, bringing welcome textural richness and body to the leaner profile. More entry-level wines— Bourgogne and lesser Villages—which would usually be made and/or aged largely in stainless steel, may have spent their life in oak to fill barrels that would otherwise have been left empty. Oak, with a higher proportion of new wood, complements reds in a cooler vintage, while in a hot vintage it is often merely tiring. The reds have immediate charm, which the whites lack, but they make up for this in purity and precision. The profile of the whites is one of moderation when compared with the concentrated 2020s and ripe 2019s. They are light- to medium- bodied and lively, with fresh but rarely high acidity. Moderately concentrated, but not rich. The texture is slim and silky. They are trim but not thin.
Given the minuscule yields, you might expect dense concentration, but they are actually nicely ripe without excessive opulence. The alcohol is modest, most around 12.5%. The profile differs from the frost-affected 2016 crop, which produced sturdy, phenolic whites. While Pinot Noir performs best at low yields, Chardonnay is more comfortable at levels up to 50hl/ha. I was surprised to taste Chardonnay cropped at 8hl/ha without the heavy stomp of 2016. While the 2021 whites don’t quite have the easy harmony of the reds, there is nothing awkward about them. The best have lightness and finesse;
intensity rather than concentration. They are precise and clean-cut, with well- defined edges. There is so much energy in this vintage. The lesser wines are light and racy, while more serious wines are furled,
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