tasting / laying down / 2023 Burgundy
Jean Chauvenet was born. The climat is 2.5ha (6 acres) in total, of which Chauvenet has 10%, and there are seven owners. There can be problems with the flowering here because of the wind, so “The berries are always very small and ripe, and the tannins are silky. It makes a true Nuits-St-Georges, with the same fragrance and structure each year,” muses Christophe. The 2023 is smooth onto the palate and ripples with dark, silky elegance. Fine tannin, with a rich chocolate note on the finish. 2027–35. | 94
Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Les Vaucrains
Seductive, svelte wine, with dark-chocolate depth. Streamed with freshness. This also has an After Eight minty freshness to the finish. A ripple of satin to the texture. This is certainly among my favorite three Nuits this vintage. Really rather sophisticated. Lovely, sleek, long finish. 2027–35+. | 95–96
DOMAINE DU CLOS FRANTIN (ALBERT BICHOT)
Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Malconsorts
There is super-juicy fruit and generosity to this full-bodied wine. Sumptuous depth of plum-ripe fruit, balanced with sufficient freshness, which imbues this wine with some energy. Velvety tannins complete the picture, and the finish has a lift of herbal freshness that carries nicely. 2026–33. | 92
EDOUARD DELAUNAY A good performance in red from Laurent Delaunay this year—quite a feat, given that he purchases all the fruit. He remarked, “The ripeness was pretty good, but not perfect, which was a good thing as it gave us a good level of acidity.” He adds that in the winery, “It was important not to overextract. This is not the character of the vintage.” He finds the 2023s “have no sign of the overripeness of 2020. They have an interesting freshness.” He feels it is “a surprisingly good vintage when you think of the record output for Burgundy—another sign of climate change, but also how well and how quickly we can manage vintages that are so different and yet still convey the terroir character.” I feel this house is becoming more precise in expressing terroir—in 2023 particularly.
White Santenay Les Champs Claudes
This has more body, tension, and vigor than the St-Romain. It’s quite strident, having heft and a vein of earthy minerality. Really quite good. Punches into a firm finish, and above its weight for a village wine. 2026–32. | 87
St-Aubin Premier Cru Les Champlots
Creamy yet fresh, the lightly rounded palate having an appealing lemon-curd, ice-cream feel and finishing on a lightly pithy note, albeit perhaps a little short for a premier cru. I find this St-Aubin premier cru more interesting than the Chassagne and Puligny village wines. 2025–29. | 93
186 | THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Ripe, exotic, pineapple aroma. Generous and punchy. Straight and intense. Quite a powerful, chalky finish. 2026–35. | 93
Red Beaune Premier Cru Grèves
Bright and light, with plentiful red fruit, this sweeps gently across the palate on silky tannins. Delaunay has captured the more fragrant, composed, and elegant expression of Beaune in this ripe vintage. Very typically Grèves, and while perhaps not as intense as the best examples from this climat, it’s not far off. Polished. 2025–32. | 92–93
Morey-St-Denis Premier Cru Les Millandes
An expressive note of cherries and toasted almonds. Juicy strike and splashy fruit on the lightly rounded mid-palate. It gurgles. Expressive. But it’s not all fruit, as there is also an attractive, light grip of ripe but firm tannin. Decent intensity and finish. A very sound premier cru. 2026–34. | 92–93
Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Les Crots
Ripe, raspberry aroma. Silky and succulent glide into the palate. Lightly sumptuous and lightly rounded, with a delicate depth of fruit, precisely balanced with freshness. The finish is well sustained with an almond-kernel bitterness. Delightful. 2026–35. | 92–93
Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Les Didiers Cuvée Flagon
Slightly baked fruit aroma on the nose, but the palate is super-juicy. Undoubtedly ripe up-front, this is generous and full. Rich, lush tannin and quite deep. It saunters with confidence across the palate to a well-sustained, supple finish, which has a fresh, earthy note. Not bad at all. 2027–35. | 93–94
Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Les St-Georges
A black-velvet purr on the palate—this is sophisticated. A seamless blend of forest fruit, svelte tannin, and morello-cherry, sappy freshness, which carries into a persistent and slightly tart finish. 2027–35. | 93
Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru
From a parcel at the top of the slope. Dark, sweet, cassis fruit, with some herbal notes, thyme and orange, and yet this has no whole-bunch. A smooth slide into the palate on rich fruit and velvety tannin. There is density in the middle, a core nugget of ripe fruit, and here it flexes lithe muscle before extending into a firm and assured finish, with plenty of verve. 2027–35+. | 95
Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
A mixture of Charmes and Mazoyères. Red summer fruit, plump and succulent, with attractive intensity, layering, and refinement. Perfume
delicately envelops the palate, which stretches into an elegant, streamlined, and just slightly shimmery, mineral finish. Surprisingly refined, given the inclusion of the Mazoyères parcel. 2027–35. | 95
Vougeot Premier Cru Les Petits Vougeots
This Petits Vougeots is more successful than the Cras, neatly blending ripe summer fruit with chalky freshness. Slippery, chalky tannins carry that freshness to the finish. Plenty of vivacity to this wine. Jolly good. 2027–35. | 93+
Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru
From two parcels—Les Petits Maupertuis and Les Dix Journaux. 60% whole-bunch. Ripe, wild- berry aroma, quite broad and generous, but not a big, burly Vougeot. This retains levity and freshness. The slightly chunky tannins have a touch of grip but are ripe. Only modest intensity for a grand cru. 2027–35. | 93
DOMAINE FAIVELEY Technical director Jérôme Flous arranged for a green-harvest from the end of June/early July for three weeks. “Even after the green-harvest, the crop was 50hl/ha for Pinot Noir—and without, it would have been 80hl/ha. We removed more than one third of the bunches. And in some places, we took half. It is exceptional to destroy such a large number of bunches.” It was a more normal crop for Chardonnay. Erwan Faiveley chose to show me only grands crus and a couple of premiers crus. All the grands crus have 50% new oak and 50% one-year-old barrels. Jérôme considers the 2023 vintage to be “drinkable and crisp, like 2011, but 2011 is less ripe and rich. 2023 is not as rich as 2009. So, maybe a mix of 2009 and 2011.”
White
Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Champ Gains
Super-aromatic, with a touch of greengage and sumptuous richness. There is a balancing phenolic bite to the finish. The warm and stony terroir gives this generosity, while it’s probably the lees (at a density of 300 NTUs) that give the bitter note to the finish. I like it. 2026–33. | 92
Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
From a parcel on the Ladoix side. There is 50% new oak—and it carries it well. “The key to this vintage for the whites was to use a lot of new barrels,” said Jérôme. What a ripe and juicy, fruity palate. Lively vibrancy and energy and silky to finish. 2027–37. | 94–95
Red
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Cazetiers
Silky tannins, pure and elegant, with a silvery cut of minerality. Firm but fine-textured tannins, a light touch to the structure. Ripe, red-berry fruit. It has a well-sustained mineral finish. Elegant and beautifully balanced. 2027–35. | 95
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