Côte de Nuits 2021: New Releases

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.

A village Vosne from one of the commune's historic names, who benefit from brilliantly placed vines. They have vines in Les Damaudes and Maizières, at either side of the village, bringing very different characters to the wines.

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. And in a great vintage for the commune, this comes up trumps.

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.

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.

A wine we've backed for years now, from a single vineyard in the Hautes Cotes. This shows good ripeness but yet still excellent intensity of fruit. There's a nice lift on the finish: a brilliant example from the Hautes-Cotes.

Lots of mineral depth here, and there's also plenty of energy on the palate. There's a lovely density here - with notes of wild flowers and also darker frtui.

The 2021 Monts Luisants, from one of Morey's most celebrated vineyards, is lovely in 2021. Lots of whole bunch spice, and there's a fragrance and purity here, too. Very nicely balanced.

Always a favourite, this Vosne is silky and suave, with lots of spice on the palate, and also notes of violets and plenty of mineral lift. A lovely expression that shows off this village beautifully.

Frankly, this is utterly gorgeous, a wine of such charm and weight, a nice little touch of acidity. This has major staying power, what’s not to like! Wonderful length and class here.

This is made from 40 year old vines from Morey, Chambolle and Vougeot. OKA is the name of one of the Arlaud draught horses. This cuvée is matured for 18 months with only 25% new oak. Intense notes of red fruits, raspberries. Delicate and silky on the palate, with a long, fine finish.

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. There is a fine depth to the fruit here, which is elegant and finessed. Beautifully balanced. This is delicious now but 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, clove spice and mineral notes. The fruit is particularly vivid in 2021, with great energy on the palate.

This comes from 4 different parcels the domaine owns around the village. It is delicate yet elegant, redcurrant fruit all over, with a lovely savoury note. It has some fine, soft tannins and fresh acidity. 2021 is a vintage where Chambolle excelled and this finessed example from Cyprien is a case in point.

Yet again, this is a stand-out in the Arlaud cellar. In 2021, different plots were harvested at different times, a small amount of whole bunch was used along with 20% new oak. And everything is perfectly in place, 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. The vines here age between 30 and 65 years old. The nose is open and alluring with sweet spice notes. It has a pleasing volume and weight on the palate, subtle, and long-lasting flavour.

A winner every year. Pure and elegant with delicious, ripe, red plum core. Great energy and vivacity. The vineyard sits just below Clos St Denis, in the heart of the village, and offers up a deep and rich expression of the village.

One of the most sought-after wines every year, this always delivers huge complexity from the start. It is so deep and concentrated, 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 concentrated, 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. Beautifully floral on the nose and totally delicious.

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 2021 has elegant, inviting dark cherry aromas with the palate showing such finessed and exceptionally concentrated fruit. It is so persistent and direct 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. Sadly, this plot that Amélie had been renting for the last few vintages has now been sold, and from 2022 will no longer be part of the range.

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. Only 5 barrels were made in 2021. The nose is open, aromatic and expressive bringing aromas of violet and dark cherry. On the palate, beautifully concentrated forest fruits interplay with soft, silky tannins. Elegant and fine, this is an incredibly successful 2021.

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. Only 3 barrels were made in 2021. It is a wine of handsome proportions, with tender, yet concentrated, red and even some black fruit, savoury spiced tannins, and a long, fine, saline 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 2021 shows a bright and fluid texture, with wonderful drive and the energy of crunchy, red fruit and saline freshness.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bruno Clair has an impressive 10 hectares in his home village of Marsannay. He bottles five separate cuvées, including this wonderful iteration from a single parcel at the southern end of the commune, on the slope that rises up behind the village. Its name (meaning “fat heads”) refers not to anybody involved in its cultivation, but rather 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 2021 it is muscular and tightly coiled, reminiscent of Gevrey-Chambertin. It has fantastic fruit concentration, and with the structure and freshness to age wonderfully. This is quintessential Marsannay, and quintessential Clair.

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 fresh red fruit aroma - cherries and wild strawberries - with tightly-coiled tannins giving the palate a nervous yet bright energy. Superb.

These are the oldest vines of the domaine, and were planted in 1902. It’s an east-facing vineyard that catches the sun all day in its amphitheatre-like form. This precious site was Bruno’s father’s favourite, and is now his son’s, Arthur’s, favourite too. This is beautifully aromatic, with cranberries, cinnamon spice, and floral lift on the nose, and some pure and elegant fruit on the palate. Complex, harmonious and saline. A beautiful wine and a highlight in 2021.

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. The wine has an incredible concentration expressed with exquisite finesse. This is absolutely delicious, with red-fruit power, fine tannins 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 depth and suave elegance on the palate. Its cool, controlled nose suggests the moderating influence from the valley breeze. Such luxuriously, silky tannins. Profoundly refined and elegant.

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. 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 perfumed on the nose and gourmand on the palate. It has an almost endless, saline finish, with beautiful supple 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 2021 shows an irresistible concentration of red fruits. The tannins are supple and rounded. There is an unbelievable saline length here. This should enjoy an exciting evolution in bottle!

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.