2020 Côte de Nuits

This plot was once considered in the same breath as Chambertin and other great sites, so it now constitutes a real bargain. It is crunchy, vibrant, and spilling over with abundant raspberry aromas, with a light, sophisticated vegetal note, giving the red fruit freshness a savoury precision.

There are few premiers crus prized as highly as Les Amoureuses. Many put it on a par with grands crus, and as the quintessential expression of Chambolle-Musigny. This 2020 is decandently concentrated, with intense dark cherry fruit. There is some considerable tannic content on the palate, layered and building, it will need plenty of time to assimilate.

Clos Frantin owns 0.63 hectares of the Clos, running from the bottom to the top on the south side of the vineyard. This is yet another example where this vineyard shines - sometimes dismissed in the company of other grands crus. Deep and long.

Domaine du Clos Frantin owns a parcel in the Champs Traversins part of this vineyard, high on the hill, which is noted for its fine expression. This is a big and powerful rendition of Echézeaux with deep dark fruits, and support from new oak. This will need some time in the cellar.

Sweetly scented with crushed raspberries and toasty lift. It has Vosne's suave, silky tannins, and velvet-like structure.

This is undoubtedly one of the greatest premier cru sites in the Côte de Nuits. Clos Frantin are the proud owners of 1.75 hectares. The 2020 has an enticing aroma of defined red berries and gentle spice. The palate displayed the level of silkiness and quality of tannins you only find in the best sites of Vosne-Romanée. It is powerful but controlled, with a sumptuous depth.

This vineyard lies just next to some of Nuits-St-Georges’s finest premiers crus, at the top of the hill, sheltered by the fringe of woodland above. Its 100% whole bunch means this is a Nuits with a soft, silky core, though its natural freshness provides all the tension it needs to give it structure and style.

This Vosne has a deep, luxurious colour. The nose and palate display a fluid elegance, with the little crunch of tannins twinned with silky fruit culminating in a nicely poised finish. Salty and refined.

Hautes-Côtes de Nuits might be the most humble appellation in Aurélien’s portfolio, but this wine is also his flagship, and we think, one of his best. It offers outstanding value for money. It is bursting with fresh berry charm: think crushed raspberries and wild strawberries. The tannins are so silky that they slip across the palate, making it a smooth and juicy mouthful. This will drink well from early on, so don’t be afraid to start drinking as soon as it arrives.

This superb vineyard in Vosne makes consistently beautiful wines. In 2020 it has a cinnamon and nutmeg spicy element alongside dark, blackcurrant fruit. The palate shows restraint and balance, and promised the wine has lots in reserve. Velvety and sophisticated.

This is one of the parcels that Cyprien and his team farm organically all year round and harvest themselves, under the négociant label. It is an excellent village lieu-dit that a number of growers choose to bottle separately, sitting at the southern end of the village. It has some firm structure in its savoy, grainy tannins, offering support to the fruit. This should age well.

This vineyard is at the north end of the village, on the border with grand cru, Mazoyères-Chambertin. The soils are high in limestone, and produce a wine that is rich in dark wild berries and clove spice. It shows particularly vibrant fruit in 2020, with great energy on the palate.

This comes from various parcels the domaine owns around the village. It is red raspberry fruit all over. It has some fine, grippy tannins and vibrant acidity.

Yet again, this is a stand-out in the Arlaud cellar. Everything is perfectly in place, and the structure is just so to let the fruit sing. Mineral, flowing, and long.

This comes from the very highest point of Mazoyères-Chambertin, which can also be labelled as Charmes-Chambertin. It has a pleasing volume and weight on the palate, subtle, and long-lasting flavour.

One of the most sought-after wines every year, this always delivers huge complexity from the start. It is so deep, and with such a sustained finish you’ll be thinking about it long after you’ve had a sip.

One of the most sought-after wines every year, this always delivers huge complexity from the start. It is so deep, and with such a sustained finish you’ll be thinking about it long after you’ve had a sip.

This can often have the broadest shoulders of the Rousseau grands crus, and is certainly one that requires some serious ageing. Magnificent.

This can often have the broadest shoulders of the Rousseau grands crus, and is certainly one that requires some serious ageing. Magnificent.

Rousseau’s Gevrey might be their least grand cuvée, but it remains nevertheless one of the most sought after wines, and a window onto their supreme style which can be drunk a little earlier than their premiers and grands crus.

Voluminous and with profound length, this is an exquisite wine from the Rousseau cellar, with layers that build up in a subtle, but melodic crescendo.

The Ruchottes always abounds with small red berry fruit, making it a lively and vibrant grand cru. It nevertheless has the gravitas of its grand cru status, and will evolved for many years in bottle.

Only five domaines own Clos St Jacques, and Rousseau’s wine is frequently the pinnacle. This shows the complexity, suave power, and finesse of a grand cru. Such incredible freshness.

Only five domaines own Clos St Jacques, and Rousseau’s wine is frequently the pinnacle. This shows the complexity, suave power, and finesse of a grand cru. Such incredible freshness.

Lavaux St Jacques is a lovely vineyard on the Combe de Lavaux which enjoys the cooling influence of the cold air drawn down the valley. As a result it is excelling in these warm vintages. Totally delicious.

Fixin doesn’t have any grand crus, but in Amélie’s eyes, this is a pretty close estimation. It has very shallow soils, and the vines, now aged 30-80 years old, dig deep. 60% whole bunch (higher than usual) brings a floral, spiced fruit. This is an incredibly successful 2020.

With Richebourg and Cros Parantoux as neighbours, you can expect great things from this vineyard. Amélie has five separate plots across half a hectare. The site is so steep and inaccessible that no tractors can reach it, and all work is done by horse or hand. The 2020 has 40% whole bunch, which helps give the already exceptionally concentrated fruit some lift and flow. It is so persistent on the finish, with Vosne’s powerful, velvet-like tannins.

This steep-sloped vineyard is one of Gevrey’s most highly-regarded premiers crus. It makes a wine of structure and depth, with broad, sumptuous tannins and intense berry fruit.

If Les Crais is her father’s cuvée, then this is Amélie’s. The wine used to go into their village blend, but Amélie has been bottling it separately since 2013. The vines are now 70 years old, and she likes to use a little whole bunch in the blend. It is a fulsome wine of handsome proportions, with tender red fruit, savoury spiced tannins, and a long satisfying finish.

This wine has been bottled as a single vineyard cuvée by Amélie’s father for many years, and remains the flagship wine of the estate. This vineyard is scarcely over a hectare and sits right in the heart of the appellation, just below the village itself. The alluvial soils, particularly at the bottom of the parcel, are well-draining. The vines are aged between 15 and 70 years, and the 2020 shows a bright and fluid texture, with wonderful drive and the energy of red fruit and saline freshness.

This parcel in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, right next to Axelle’s cellar, sits at 450 metres altitude. The isolated parcel is naturally low yielding anyway, and, she says, naturally pruned by the local deer. As a result, it's an Aligoté with the yield of a grand cru, Axelle laments in jest. The vines are around 50 years old and around 10% of the vineyard is an old Burgundian variety, Melon de Bourgogne, more commonly found in Muscadet these days. The wine is energetic and delicious, brimming with apples and apricots, and a lacy, fine texture.

In Aux Allots we find the domaine’s oldest vines, though how old precisely is unknown. The family bought the vineyard which sits on the Vosne-Romaéee side of the village in 1969. It had been planted long before then, although the exact date has been lost to history. This wine has an enthralling depth of berry fruit, with a minty lift on the nose, and just a hint of licorice adding a further dimension. Textural and complex, this is an outstanding Nuits-St-Georges.

Fragile old vines planted in 1964 produce a wine of surprising structure from this site. The concentration of fruit, the frame of tannins, and the long drive on the back-palate are perhaps more in line with the traditional image of Nuits-St-Georges than Axelle’s Vallerots cuvées. This quintessential Nuits cuvée has superb length, with some welcome Nuits-St-Georges structure giving it power and presence.

Whilst most of the vineyard is terrassed (and goes into the blend bearing that name), a small half hectare section is not, having been planted in 1984. It might be difficult to farm, and very hard work to harvest, but it’s well worth it for the wine it produces. It is rich in berry fruit, with a wonderful structure that sees a seamless marriage between fruit, body, tannin and acidity. There is so much purity and energy here. A crystalline snapshot of the more elegant side of Nuits.

This is a flagship wine of the domaine, and at two hectares represents around a third of production. It’s an incredibly steep site just above Les Vaucrains which had been abandoned since the phylloxera crisis until Bertrand terraced and planted it in 2001. There is slightly darker, fuller fruit than that found in the 2019, but with the brightness of acidity it feels balanced and very complete, unforced and charming.

What a Bourgogne Rouge this is. It comes from a parcel in Nuits-St-Georges, at the south end of the commune, not far from Les St Georges. The soils here are stony and poor, not as deep as some Bourgogne vineyards can be, and make a superbly balanced wine, sweetly fruited and with a wonderful fluidity.

A rare Vosne-Romanée from Axelle whose vineyards mostly lie in Nuits-St-Georges. As gorgeous as it is scarce, with deep velvety fruit and a long, refined finish.

The domaine has an impressive 10 hectares in their home village of Marsannay. They bottle five separate cuvées, including the wonderful Grasses Têtes, which sits at the southern end of the commune, on the slope that rises up behind the village. Its quirky name (meaning “fat heads”) refers to the large rocks that show through the surface of the clay soil. It is typically the most structured and powerful of the Clair Marsannays, and in 2020 it was initially muscular and athletic, reminding me of Gevrey-Chambertin when tasted from barrel. A recent revisit (spring 2024) to this wine now in bottle reminded me how Pinot Noir has a remarkable ability to surprise. The powdery tannins and fleshy, energetic red-fruit freshness have knitted together seamlessly, and the wine is now an absolute joy. It undeniably retains the structure to age, and tastes easily twice the price it is. This is quintessential Marsannay, and quintessential Clair, and a hot contender for promotion to premier cru status.

This remarkable village lieu-dit sits directly above Bonnes Mares, Clos de Tart, and Clos des Lambrays. The Clair parcel is situated just above their Bonnes Mares parcel. It’s hard to believe this isn’t a premier cru. Up here there is virtually no top soil at all, and the vines plunge straight into the limestone bedrock. Arthur uses up to 30% whole bunch on the young vine parcel, which he vinifies separately from the older vines, blending later to build layers of complexity. It has a summer hedgerow aroma - blackberries and wild strawberries - with tightly-wound tannins giving the palate a nervous energy. Truly excellent.

This clos is a monopole of the domaine found right at the centre point of Gevrey, between the grand cru slope and the Combe de Lavaux. It experienced lots of millerandages in 2020 (small berries) and the wine has an incredible concentration expressed with exquisite finesse. This is absolutely delicious, with red-fruit power and mineral length. Clos du Fonteny is always one of Bruno’s personal favourites.

Bruno Clair is one of only five producers of this revered premier cru, that many regard as equal to the Gevrey grands crus. The Clairs refer to it as ‘the Prince of Gevrey’. It is steep by Burgundian standards, with clay-rich soil. This wine shows so much power and suave elegance on the palate. Its cool, controlled nose suggests the moderating influence from the valley breeze. You cannot imagine this wine was made in a warm vintage when you taste it. It has so much exhilarating tension and freshness. Profoundly refined and elegant.

What a wine this is in 2020. Clos de Bèze is a slightly steeper and warmer site than Chambertin, and the potential heights of complexity and concentration it can produce are remarkable. It has hit the bullseye in 2020. Most of the vines were planted in 1912, with the rest in the 1970s, which are affectionately still referred to as the young plants. The old vines produce a wine that is so perfumed on the nose and gourmand on the palate. It has an almost endless finish, with fabulously svelte tannins.

Bruno Clair’s is a Bonnes Mares of distinction: it is the only part to fall within Morey-Saint-Denis (the rest falls within Chambolle-Musigny’s borders). It also happens to be one of the grand cru’s consistently finest examples. The 2020 shows an irresistible combination of black and red fruits. The tannins at first feel firm, almost austere. But with a little air they begin to mollify. There is an unbelievable length here. In the short time of tasting it shows so many facets, which suggests this will enjoy one of the most exciting evolutions in bottle of any 2020 we tasted.

Pure, incredibly densely concentrated with crystalline fruit, and silky, satin-like tannins. This is wonderfully long, and, although a mere village wine, carries the calibre of its domaine on full display.

One of Gervey’s brilliant grands crus. It is often one that opens up fairly early on. The beautiful Dujac style here means it should enjoy a very long drinking window.

Malconsorts is considered by many as equal in quality, and certainly as in-demand, as most grands crus, and you’ll be hard pushed to find a finer example than Dujac’s.

Combettes sits on the border of Morey and Gevrey, surrounded on all sides by grands crus. There are many theories as to why this isn’t a grand cru itself, most of which centre on the political angle (a popular theory is although in Gevrey, it is shared amongst many growers from Morey, and the powers that be in Gevrey enjoyed snubbing it for grand cru status). It is a wonderful wine, with extraordinary ageing potential.

This is arguably the best placed village parcel in the whole of Gevrey, sandwiched between Griotte and Charmes-Chambertin. However, it is made in minute volumes: just one barrel in 2020. It’s juicy and fine-boned, with such vibrant acidity, silky tannins and a sense of purity. There’s a hint of the cherry fruit you might expect from this corner of Gevrey, and a finish that is impressively long. So much more than a simple village wine.