Sarah Marsh MW
Marsannay Source des Roches
This is 80% from Charme aux Prêtres, at the top of the lieu-dit. A straight palate, with a firm, savory bite and tension. A lean, sparse wine. Super-sappy, with slightly salty finish. Like it. 2024–27. | 86
Morey-St-Denis En La Rue de Vergy
High-toned, with a hint of mint tea. Quite severe and taut, puckering, salty and keen, racing on a clipped, straight line. Love it. 2024–32. | 90
Red
All the samples were drawn from foudres. A small proportion of some wines is in barriques, which will be blended two months prior to bottling.
Chambolle-Musigny Les Véroilles
Worst-hit by the frost, as it budded early on the warm rocks, producing only 8hl/ha. Vibrancy. What a zesty jump onto the palate. More concentration than the Morey-St-Denis En La Rue de Vergy. Pithy, savory, with good bitterness to finish. 2025–30. | 91
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Charmes
A normal crop: 30hl/ha. Deep, succulent, and generous. Full and rounded palate. Smooth and deeply textured, with aromatic tarragon aromas on the finish. 2027–35. | 94
Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
The parcel runs from top to bottom on the Morey- St-Denis side, on redder soils. But there is a section on white clay at the top, which needs picking a week earlier (with a parcel in the middle on rock), so the domaine makes it in two batches. Earthy, bloody aroma and a deep, dense, layered palate, underscored with savory minerality. An earthy, iron note on the persistent finish. It carries very well indeed. 2027–25. | 98
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Cazetiers
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Cazetiers From a rocky parcel at the top, this is the Gevrey that always has lower acidity and higher pH. A lively, red-berry aroma; sweet redcurrant. This is lean and keen, with firm, talc-like tannins; salty, savory, and shot with oyster-shell minerality. A sparse, shaley character. 2027–35. | 94–95
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Clos St-Jacques
More generous and deep than the Cazetiers. Rich rose-petal aroma. Enveloping, swathed in gorgeous red fruit and balanced with just delicious, sweet acidity. Supple texture, and it carries effortlessly onto the finish. 2029–35. | 96
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Petite Chapelle
The lowest pH of the Gevrey range. A vital wine, a little muscular, with a cloaking of dark fruit. And it punches on the finish. Tip-top. 2028–35. | 94–95
Savigny-lès-Beaune Premier Cru La Dominode
From 100-year-old vines. Only 20% whole-bunch, as the pH was already high and more whole-bunch would have exacerbated this. Super-smooth, succulent, and generous, with good depth and suede-like tannins. Quite yummy. 2025–30. | 88–89
Vosne-Romanée Champs Perdrix
Perfumed with violets. Sweetness on the front- palate, juicy and intense and threaded with very fresh acidity. Sweet and bright and dancing on the finish. Just a delight. 2026–30. | 91–92
CHÂTEAU DE MARSANNAY In 2022 the Château de Marsannay and Château de Meursault were certified organic, making it the largest such producer in the Côte d’Or, with a total 266 acres (107ha) under Stéphane Follin-Arbelet.
Marsannay Es Chezots
Floral aroma. A firm structure, good tension, and slightly licorice tannin. A snappy bite to finish. Cool and crisp. 2024–28. | 86–87
Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru En Orveaux Marsannay Chardonnay Rosé
Floral lift to an elegant and refined palate. There is tension, gossamer texture, and a shimmering quality to the finish. 2026–33. | 93
Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru Upright, austere, and salty/sweet, with a frosty
In Blungeys, planted in 1949, with some younger vines planted in 2015 with a massal selection from the first vineyard. It is an old variety. Rather structural, firm, and straight. White, from a pink grape. Firm, phenolic note to finish. A tacky, tannic, biting food wine. 2024–27. | 86
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023 | 181
Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
A good surprise in terms of the yield: 35hl/ha. Two thirds of the vines were planted in 1912, and candles helped here, as the older vines were later budding. Sumptuous and deep, dense and intense, it homes in on a prolonged, richly supple, aromatic finish. 2030–40. | 97
Marsannay Les Grasses-Têtes
This is the richest, most tannic lieu-dit, partly because of the small berries due to virus. The large rocks that penetrate the surface run diagonally across the vineyard, and the name also refers to gras, as in fat, indicating the clay. Edouard Clair is careful not to extract too much. Sturdy and dense. Muscular, with punchy tannins and a bit of grip. A touch dry at the moment on the savory finish, but it clearly has good potential. 2025–30. | 88
Marsannay Les Longeroies
One of the domaine’s oldest plantings (1924 and 1926). Alluring aroma and juicy attack. Quite pouncy and bold in the middle. A light bitterness, anise, and herbs to finish. Attractive. 2024–28. | 86
Morey-St-Denis En La Rue de Vergy
Badly hit by frost. Red rose-petal aroma. Sweet fruit on the front, delicate, and a fine, silky texture. Pure and vivid wine, with lucid, limped transparency and, at the end, fine minerals. Love it. 2025–30. | 90
grip of limestone. The savory, almost severe core, is encased in red fruit. A crushed-glass quality to the tannin. Very long and aromatic on the finish. 2028–40. | 97–98
DOMAINE SYLVAIN PATAILLE “I prefer this sort of vintage,” Sylvain maintained: “2014, 2013, 2007, and 1998. There is no dilution in 2021. It is much more powerful than I expected, but it needed time.” Sylvain has used a higher proportion of foudres in 2021, especially for the second part of the aging of the whites, with plenty of lees-aging to feed the wines. As ever, he uses almost homeopathic quantities of sulfur dioxide. Some of the wines were in a more oxidative stage when I visited in November, but Sylvain has it all under control. He ensures that he gets the best quality of fruit, by paying well over the asking price, and sprays the vineyards of his contract growers himself, to ensure all the vines are well-protected.
White
Bourgogne Aligoté Auvonnes “From vines of my grandfather, who was not a vintner, but he had these to make his wine for the family.” Quite a broad palate, with dry minerality giving structure. The core is enveloped in aromas of tarragon. 2024–27. | 85
Bourgogne Aligoté La Charme aux Prêtres
Lactic note, slightly sour in a nice way. It is straight, very smoky on the palate, with fresh bitterness and bite. The finish pushes through. 2024–28. | 87
Bourgogne Aligoté Clos du Roy
An early place to harvest, as it is warmer. Fleshy aroma, with the appealing oiliness and butteriness of brazil nuts. Aroma and palate have plenty of concentration. Thicker texture and more glycerol. Warm, glossy minerality. 2024–28. | 87–88
Bourgogne Mechalots
In front of Charmes aux Prêtres; yellow soil with sediment, which came down from the combe. Massal selection from Roulot. With a lightly rich apricot attack, this is amply concentrated for a Bourgogne, tightening into a pithy note to freshen the finish. Appealing. 2024–28. | 85
Marsannay Le Chapitre
“The acidity is always a little low, so I have to harvest it early and not keep it too long on the lees, I want to keep the freshness.” Grèzes litées soil. Fresh and sappy, with umami savory character. Almost sandy on the finish, and so salty with it. 2024–29. | 87–88
2021 BURGUNDY: CHABLIS / CÔTE DE NUITS
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