Edging south on the côte, Chevalier- Montrachet has the same sensation; a chilled millefeuille, savory and salty. Somewhat Cistercian, these are wines to admire—for now, at least, from afar.
Chassagne-Montrachet
The village-level wines are diverse in style and quality. There is much to be liked in the fresh, flowery, slightly rounded village wines, with orange-blossom notes, probably from botrytis. There are plenty of these, but some are broader, lacking in fruit intensity, and consequently these have a frugal feel. Moving to the premiers crus, things improve. These show excellent terroir typicité. On the north side of the village, Chenevottes and Macherelles are juicy and fresh, slightly loose in texture and easygoing. Vergers is a step up in sophistication, with its silky stretch. For a light and floral feel, Chaumées is pretty and dancing; Bruno Colin has a lovely example. I really enjoyed Vergers and Chaumées; I had thought they might be too lean but was very happy to be proved wrong. From the middle of the village, Champs Gain shows its best face in 2021. It can be a touch clumsy in a warm vintage, without the density of Morgeot to support the ripe fruit, but in this vintage, it is lighter and more energetic on its feet; it is also spicy, with gingerbread. It shares this rather surprising gregarious profile with Maltroie, which is generous and fruity, with a bit more substance. In the past, I have sometimes skipped over these premiers crus in search of more excitement, but I am coming to appreciate them more and more. They are fruity and likable, but well structured and really quite consistent— faithful friends. By contrast, Caillerets can seem rather
unfriendly and austere, while others have fine, chalky elegance, but all are more aloof. There is refinement and detail in Caillerets. Going up Chassagne’s gentle slope, there is very little wine from 2021, sadly, due to frost. They are pure and racy, if you can find them. The catch-all appellation Grand Montagne is used to blend smaller parcels, and Lamy Caillat has a fine example, while Fernand and Laurent Pillot Grandes Ruchottes and Marc Morey’s En Virondots are well worth seeking out for their fine-boned delicacy in 2021.
The expansive, lightly sloping premier
cru of Morgeot has many named parcels where soil, and consequently style, differs. Style and quality in the warmer vintages is more homogenous, but in 2021 the clos parcels up-slope—Tête, Petits, and Grands Clos—are a distinct notch up in refinement and layering. Boudriotte also stands apart. There are five lieux-dits, including the eponymous Boudriotte, which has the highest proportion of white clay, and Champs Jendreau, which also has some. As a group, they are fresher, with greater precision and sapidity than those from Morgeot on heavier clay. Moving to that lower section of
Morgeot, these are broad without the glamour of fruit on the mid-palate that a warmer vintage brings. They can feel a bit rough and muscular. I’ve really enjoyed them in recent vintages but like them less this year. Approach the reds carefully. The
tannin can barge through perfectly decent red fruit. Without the richness of glycerol and alcohol, you are likely to encounter hearty, robust wines. But there are always exceptions. Bruno Colin’s Chassagne reds are ripe with soft tannin. Contrary to most, Colin harvested reds after whites and employed a device to shower the cap lightly. His Premier Cru Clos St-Jean deserves a mention; floral and smooth, it’s in a happy place. Jean-Noël Gagnard and René Lamy-Pillot have good examples. It’s a shame there is such pressure to plant Chardonnay here.
Chassagne / Puligny Grands Crus The grands crus share a Meursault theme of divide and accentuate. The various Bâtards are lighter, not so burly and gourmand as in recent years, but are relaxed and warmly inviting, suggesting earlier drinking after 8–12 years. In contrast, Chevalier shows its cold face, slightly austere, with oyster-shell minerality; fine-boned, delicate even, it’s tautly focused and should go longer. Montrachet is a level up. Although
somewhat austere and chiseled, even in this lesser vintage the fine examples have depth and burnished, muscular brilliance. The fashionable glass globe highlights the style and structure of both Montrachet and Chevalier.
St-Aubin
The profile is vibrant, slim, and lively. Quite light, but pretty wines. With less
body than the greater villages, they are defined by freshness and energy. En Remilly has a tendency to tip into exotic perfume in warm vintages, but also in 2021, probably because yields were so small, but the palate is straight and racy. (In profile, it is rather like Chassagne En Remilly.) Murgers des Dents de Chien is more savory. The premiers crus from behind the village are quite a step down in quality in 2021.
Santenay and Maranges “Everyone in Maranges and Santenay lost crop to mildew even with conventional farming,” observes Pablo Chevrot, who organically farms his many parcels across Santenay and Maranges. Without severe selection for rot, reds in particular will be mediocre.
Some producers captured an abundance of summer fruit and energy. Most are lighter wines, though some whites, maybe more from clay soils, have exotic aromas and flavors, probably from botrytis. In red, lighter tannins and lower acidity soften the burlier profile of some climats, among them Maranges Roussots. On limestone soils, including my favorite climat, Fussières, the limestone gives line and salty freshness. But I also had some lean and tart wines, while others were simply nondescript. Tread carefully.
Chalonnais and Mâconnais In the Côte Chalonnaise we are back to fresh, light, easy-drinking wines. Rully is generally straight, trim, and citrus. Some Montagny wines have honeyed notes from botrytis. The regional wines of the Mâconnais are much trimmer and slimmer than 2020. Generally, the impact of frost was less severe here, but Uchizy was among the villages badly affected. Other villages that escaped the frost were hit by hail, so yields were reduced, but not particularly low, with crops at around 35hl/ha rather than the more normal 60hl/ha. It rained, maybe more so than in the Côte d’Or; and rain, the cool summer, and yields may account for a sense of dilution in some wines. After all the concentration of 2020, some can tip the other way and lack sufficient stuffing. I do, however, like the freshness and energy of many of the wines. St-Véran has been quite fat and rich in recent vintages but is much fresher and brighter in 2021. Pouilly-Fuissé holds it together, too: savory, compact, and showing welcome tension.
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023 | 177
2021 BURGUNDY: INTRODUCTION
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