but with palpable and pleasing tension. I like the edge of nervosity and have remarked in many of my tasting notes on the vibrancy of the wines. “Juicy” was another recurring impression: a fresh fruit character, different from the unctuous, ripe fruit of 2020 and 2019. Juicy wines have an appetizing crunch—succulence rather than opulence—and the reds follow suit. So many whites are zesty. The acidity is
lively but lower than 2020, which had twin peaks in their high concentration and high acidity; the 2021 acidity is more integrated. The coolish summer has delivered
fruit characters in the citrus spectrum, lemon and lime. Lighter wines have a lemon-sherbet fizzle, while riper fruit is expressed in candied citrus and greengage. Occasionally, there are delicately exotic flavors of litchi and of rambutan, with a creamy, slightly sweet-and-sour note. At Bouchard Père & Fils, Frédéric Webber picks when Chardonnay is fully ripe and golden, and clearly the fruit profile of later-picked fruit is warmer. Well-exposed vineyards on white soil also have this riper fruit profile. Perhaps surprisingly, they are not especially floral, while the reds are notably so, but riper whites have spicy notes, with ginger a recurring aroma. Many whites are equally, if not more, savory than fruity. The vintage is expressed in savory sapidity and pithiness, an appetizing bitterness, possibly due to the high levels of dry extract. This is not confined to thinner or more limestone soils. It’s a character more readily associated with Côte de Nuits whites, and these are especially savory and sapid in 2021, with transparency to the terroir. My tasting notes have frequent
references to the impression of minerality, in its many guises. I particularly like the soft-salt “minerality” of this vintage. The vast majority of the whites that I tasted are pure, but some showed hints of botrytis, which took hold quickly at the end of the season and has occasionally resulted in aromas of orange marmalade, honey, and spice. When harvesting by hand, it’s possible to eliminate badly affected bunches, but with the pressure of such low yields, and with machine harvesting, botrytized grapes will have found their way into presses. So, beware: It’s not a consistent vintage in terms of quality or style. I tasted some sour whites, with too much bitterness. I like bitterness, but some were too
phenolic, tart and green, with lime freshness becoming unpleasant. 2021 has less fat and sucrosity than recent vintages so can taste rather lean, dry, and savory— or simply light, without much personality. You will find examples of meager wines, all the way from Chablis to Mâcon.
Terroir and typicité Vintages that walk on the edge of ripeness are most transparent to the terroir. 2021 is such a vintage. When a vintage is unripe, this character dominates, as it does in 2008, while in 2013 the terroir is much clearer. Alcohol and glycerol mask the terroir in the richer vintages of 2009, 2015, 2019, and the 2018 red. The hotter vintages keep their distance at first, becoming more translucent with time, but always with some imprint from the heat of the vintage. Other vintages are forever marked by a significant event—the ladybugs in 2004 and 2011, or the botrytis in 2012. Some vintages make pure, terroir-led wines in one color. 2014 is the most exceptional example of beautifully detailed terroir whites, while the reds were the worst of the decade. 2021 is unusual. The trauma of the season has not normally left its mark on the wines. The reds are luminous, clear, and transparent to the terroir, while the whites are slim and precise, and with this level of precision, we are close to the terroir. Even where the fruit is ripe, from warmer climats, you sense the fine-boned delicacy underneath, for there is no richness of texture or alcohol to hide it. For typicité, the vintage flows in direction of the more elegant villages. There is a beautiful translucency in Chambolle (my standout village of the vintage) and in Volnay, but it can tone down and soften the personality and sense of place of the villages that are punchier. Gevrey can lack its forthright intensity. Nuits-St-Georges can feel a little polite, with the south side too “tender.” Of course, this is a combination of the vintage itself and the winemaker’s interpretation of it. Ideally, vintage and village are in synergy. Most producers I visited chose to
make nano-quantities of every climat. Burgundy lovers will be relieved that the full spectrum of terroirs is generally available in 2021, despite the frost. But for those producers apprehensive of making red wine in small quantities, blending premiers crus was probably a wise move, possibly resulting in something better than the individual parts would have been.
Quality and consistency Just as there is nothing excessive in terms of style, the same might be said of quality. We are taking a step back from the bounteous excellence and consistency of 2020. 2021 is not a top-drawer vintage. Its mid-range credentials are particularly clear in the intensity and finish of the premier and grand cru wines. They don’t have the layering and length of 2018 or 2019, let alone the stunning intensity, presence, and powerful persistence of 2020. But where the wine is well made, there is still much to be enjoyed. Many of the producers described how
difficult it felt in 2021, both psychologically and physically, requiring twice as much work for a small crop—sometimes for nothing at all. But tasting the wines a year later, they are relieved and cheered by the quality. As it turned out, low yields were the saving grace for this vintage. There was potential. The gods rewarded hard endeavor and dedication to quality. No doubt it hurt to discard fruit on the sorting table, but such sacrificial measures there made all the difference to the final wines. A Meursault Premier Cru Charmes from a serious producer shows elegance and finesse in 2021. From lesser producers, I tasted some thin and weedy wines, while others were undefined and oaky. So much better to have a small drop of deliciousness than a plentiful supply of mediocrity. It was a technical—a winemaker’s— vintage, as I will explain later in more detail. Whites required precision; reds, a delicate balancing act, which not all producers achieved. I visited around 80 producers, reliable sources with whom I have regularly tasted for between ten and 20 years. Not everyone got it right for every wine. Some faltered with small cuvées where the extraction wasn’t quite right. I also tasted the wines of producers for whom there was not space in this report (though many more of my tasting notes are on
worldoffinewine.com than here). Those apart, how does one define quality in this vintage? Reds are pure Pinot Noir, with translucency to terroir. That’s good quality in my book. But let’s manage expectations: mild pleasure rather than fireworks. Not 2020. It’s a decent mid- range vintage. I am not sure if 2017 reds are better than 2021, and will probably still be vacillating on that for a while yet. The whites are a notch up on the reds—not at the same high level as 2020 or 2014, but not too shabby either. Technically
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023 | 167
2021 BURGUNDY: INTRODUCTION
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