Côte de Beaune 2022

Maranges is the final limit of the Côte d’Or, and a source of crunchy, great value reds, if you follow the right grower. This is actually a blend of village and premier cru fruit (from 1er Cru Clos Rousseau), which David declassifies to give his village Marange more volume and quality. It’s a smart move, and a smart buy. It’s light-bodied, lithe, crunchy, juicy and vibrant.

Les Hâtes sits in the middle of the village, surrounded by premiers crus on well-draining soil. It makes for a floral, ethereal style of Pinot with lovely proportions. This floral character is a natural expression of the site which David sees emerge every year. It makes for a compelling introduction to Santenay for first-timers.

Amongst a strong line up of premiers crus in David’s cellar, this is always our favourite. It comes from a parcel with a hard limestone bedrock, producing a wine that is marked by its surprising suppleness. In 2022 it is so fine, so Pinot. This is the work of a winemaker at the peak of his abilities, coaxing an ephemeral beauty from his Pinot.

Charles Ballot is making some of the greatest Chardonnays in Burgundy these days, and his Bourgogne Blanc is an excellent place to get a taste of the style on offer at this address. 70% of the fruit is sourced from his home village of Meursault, with the balance coming from Puligny-Montrachet. It was easily one of the best Bourgogne Blancs we tasted this vintage.

This is the first year we’ve picked up some Chassagne Rouge from Alex, so impressed we were when tasting from barrel. The vintage’s natural charm and ease suit his style well. While the focus of attention will remain on his whites, his reds offer up an approachable and delicious expression from this talented winemaker.

This comes from a blend for the domaine’s young vines with a small dash of extremely old vines, from multiple parcels scattered around the village of Nantoux. It has a crunchy acidity giving it a fresh profile, which is twinned with the ripe blueberry/raspberry fruit character. Whole-bunch has been upped to 60% in 2022 giving it a spiced, graceful length.

This is a new addition to the list in 2022: we just couldn’t resist. It’s made from old vine Gamay grown on the steep slopes of Nantoux (true to its name, unlike many other Coteaux Bourguignons which are grown on the flat plains on the other side of the route nationale). It was vinified with 50% whole-bunch fruit, gently handled in the cellar with low extraction. Some of the vines are getting on for ninety-years-old, and the concentration and kick this gives to the wine is notable. It’s gorgeous: juicy, fruit-forward, and joyful. Don’t miss this little rocket.

The Bignon parcel has red clay soil, not dissimilar to that found in pockets of Pommard. It usually produces an easy-going, fruit-forward wine, but I’m struck by the excellent structure found in this 2022. It still has the signature smooth fruit, but with fine, lightly grippy tannins from well-handled 60% whole-bunch fruit.

Boris Champy burst onto the scene in 2019, and is now a leading light of the Hautes-Côtes and of biodynamic viticulture in Burgundy. Le Clou is a single vineyard in Nantoux sitting at a precise 377 metres elevation. Its soil is similar to Volnay, with chalky, rocky topsoil over limestone marl bedrock. 100% whole-bunch has been used to great effect here: it has a fine, elegant aroma of red berries and cinnamon spice, with silky tannins and impressive concentration on the poised finish.

This gourmand, full-bodied and elegant wine is one of the sweet spots of the Comte Armand stable, with surprising ageing potential. It is a blend of two vineyards in Auxey: Les Bréterins and Les Duresses. Bréterins is steep and well-draining, with limestone soils contributing savoury elegance; Duresses is clay-based and builds power and body in the wine. It has the structure for good ageing potential, though it is still fragrant and inviting in its youth.

Auxey-Duresses is a relatively unknown village of the Côte de Beaune, tucked up above Meursault, next to Monthelie, on the way to St Romain. This anonymity is in spite of its association with Lalou Bize-Leroy. Comte Armand's vines - in lieu-dit Largillas - sit just above her Les Clous vines. Largillas gives the most spectacular views of the pretty village, and have an enviable mid-slope position for a village parcel. It is always one of the best value and most characterful reds on our list. In 2022 it has a nervous, energetic character, with a fresh and juicy body.

This Volnay is so balanced and complete. Pillowy, gently spiced red fruit leads to a silky, aromatically complex palate, spiced through with wild strawberry fruit. It is a blend of two parcels, Les Famines and Les Grands Champs, in the centre of the commune. There is a touch of sweetly-scented dry extract, making it both tender and mineral.

This is one of many Volnay premiers crus that Marc-Olivier has at his fingertips. The site’s generous topsoil makes for a wine of appealing charm, marking it out as one of the earliest drinking of the Buffet Volnay premiers crus. The fruit is completely destemmed, and the wine has a sumptuous, succulent texture on the palate. It is sweetly scented, with intense purity of fruit. That aromatic fruit is enrobed in plush tannins, and the finish is graceful and long. Cellar for a few years, then don’t hold back.

This Volnay is floral and gently spiced, with layers of delicate aromatics. It comes from a blend of two parcels: the evocatively named Les Famine, whose paucity of soil makes the roots dig deep; and a small dash of the tiny lieu-dit, La Gigotte, which lifts this village wine up a notch. It’s entirely destemmed and the wine has a sapid, fruity, and accessible profile, with nicely grippy tannins.

It is well worth following Olivier’s reds, particularly in recent vintages. This vineyard had previously been owned by M. Duvault-Blochet, former owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Today, high density planting and organic farming mean low yields, which does a great service to the fruit - red berries with a smoky graphite scent lingering over them. Mineral and defined.

Easily one of Burgundy’s most talked-about and fascinating wines, yet also one of its rarest, produced only in tiny quantities. It comes from a parcel high up in the hill, protected by a fringe of forest above, where Olivier has planted the vines at a density of 30,000 vines per hectare. That’s three times the density of your average Burgundy vineyard. The concentration this gives to the wines is hard to capture in words.

The Pillots don’t rush anything these days, even the bottling of their Bourgogne, which along with their Chassagnes, spends two winters in the cellar before being bottled. This time allows the wine to fill out, and take on a seriousness and depth which pitches the wine well above its lowly classification. It has a sweet nectarine intensity and a fleshy, vibrant length. It comes from various parcels all around the village of Chassagne, which is 100% domaine fruit.

Jean-Marc makes some of the best Chassagne Rouge around. With many old vines planted on the clay soil pockets around the village, he has produced a great example in 2022. This old vine cuvée has a fabulous spiced plum aroma on the nose, with textural red fruit detail on the palate. You’ll find lacy, fine-grained tannins of the highest order here.

This is a brilliant example of what Pinot Noir can do in Chassagne when you combine old vines and serious winemaking. The poor soils of Clos St Jean have long been one of the hotspots for Pinot in the village, and Jean-Marc counts himself lucky to have inherited this parcel of 100+ year old vines. He likes to make a gourmand style you can approach from youth, but don’t let that make you think this is lacking in concentration or sophistication. This 2022 is sitting emphatically in the elegant red fruit spectrum, and the wine shows a level of freshness, detail and precision that lifts it up to great heights.

This vineyard bordering Pommard did once produce wines with some robust, muscular tannins. But now that they have reached 70+ years, the tannins have begun to soften, becoming distinctly finer in recent years. It shows a touch of blueberry fruit, with plush, structural tannins.

This is a Bourgogne full of lemony freshness and delicious energy. The fruit for this blend comes from three sites in Meursault (making up 60%), with the remainder from a single plot in Puligny. In spite of their Bourgogne classification, these sites are high quality, knocking on the door of village level, with shallow topsoil and lots of small stones, aiding drainage.

You can feel the character of the poor stony soil found in Puligny here in this wine’s floral, racy delicacy. It has a piercing, slightly spicy intensity accompanied by a tenderness of fruit on the finish. Enticing, with intricate structure and superb definition.

Blagny sits high up, 400m above the heart of the Meursault commune. This altitude brings a focused freshness to the wines. It has notes of ripe citrus and yellow apricot, with a richly mineral seashell note - not unlike Chablis - on the nose. The soil is white limestone up here, and this makes for a scintillating palate. It feels straighter than the Grands Charrons, in many ways, more like a Puligny in profile than a Meursault. Saline, mineral, and powerful.

This is the Pillots’ largest premier cru, and it lies just up the road from their cellar. It is the emblematic cuvée of the domaine, and a brilliant buy every vintage. The 2022 has tension and saline length, with a nervous energy that lingers long after tasting.