After a recent trip to Burgundy, we’re back with fresh wines and the first look at the 2021 & 2022 vintages. We met with several of the best wine producers from the region, tasted their newly pressed 2022 vintages, and newly bottled 2021 wines, and explored their range further.
The overall feedback from vignerons (winemakers/vine growers) in the region was that 2022 will produce ripe & rich wines in good quantities. The larger crop was unpredicted, so winemakers had to invest in new vessels, and the amount of new oak used dramatically increased. It will be interesting to see how this influenced the style of wine from the ’22 vintage. We’ll be able to taste and enjoy many of these wines early in 2024. We also have a small amount of 2022 Beaujolais Nouveau which was released on the 17th of November, only available in-store.
At the start of 2023, the wine trade will be invited to explore the 2021 vintage at the annual ‘En Primeur’ (First) tasting. We got an advanced look and tasted the 2021 vintage as many Domaine we visited we’re bottling for the first time. 2021 was a very difficult vintage for vignerons, it was cold and grapes struggled to ripen. Many had sleepless nights in the vineyards lighting candles and trying to battle the frost. This resulted in the vintage being incredibly small, fresh and fruit-forward. We found these wines to be drinking well at a young age and very enjoyable.
Here's a rundown of all our favourite vignerons we met on our trip;
Domaine Tawse – Nuits-Saint-Georges
Head winemaker and Englishman Mark Fincham strives for purity, complexity, and drinkability in his wines, those three don’t normally go hand in hand. He seems to effortlessly achieve this, and his wines are just pure joy to drink! Tawse have to be one of the most exciting producers in Gevery Chambertin at the moment. At our recent Burgundy tasting we showcased his fantastic ‘Etelois’. A fantastic single plot next door to Charmes-Chambertin) Gevery Chambertin from 2018 which was very special. We have a small amount of his entry wine which is an absolute steal but please enquire if you’d like some of his top Gevery.
2018 Bourgogne Vigne Blanche, Domaine Tawse
Maison Harbour – Savigny-les-Beaune
Nicholas and Colleen Harbour left their day jobs in North America and headed to Burgundy to follow their dreams to become winemakers. They work as ‘Negotiant’ winemakers where they don’t own the plots they source their fruit from. Although their connection to the land and attention to detail in vineyard is incredibly high. Their whites are striking with perfect focus and sense of place. Some of the standout wines we tasted included their puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Combettes & Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravières. Please enquire if you’d like these wines from 2020. To give you a taste of the quality of wines we have their entry Chardonnay which punches well above it’s weight.
2020 Maison Harbour Chardonnay
Maynes/Julien Guillot – Maconnais
Julien Guillot is now in charge of this estate which has over 1,111 years of history of making wine. Julien was one of the pioneers of working in a ‘low intervention’ by not using additives or chemicals in the wine. He took inspiration from his relatives who helped to introduce the organic certification we see in much of French agriculture. His Pouilly Fuisse is one of the best we’ve every tasted with so much character and energy, the wine is raw and alive and has benefitted by having a ‘hands off’ and ‘minimum intervention style of winemaking in the winery. We have his excellent Pouily Fuisse in stock.