Vintage 2020 (by Chanterêves)
If 2020 is marked by drought and a record lack of rain from April to August, what more or less saved the vintage was the abundant rainfall in winter (90mm above average from October to March) and an additional short rainy period in June. This enabled the vines to fight off hydric stress well into veraison, which finished in early August. When I write “it more or less saved the vintage,” that is because, compared to 2018, physiological ripeness caught up with sugar accumulation faster in 2020. This led to a better synchronization of aromatic potential and sugar ripeness. It was not as difficult to find the optimal picking date and so less of a headache with the red winemaking because physiological ripeness was often attained below 14% alcohol.
Still, the record low rainfall starting from July inevitably brought hydric stress to the vines during the ripening period. Between 1981 to 2010, the average rainfall in Beaune during the growing season was 403mm, whereas in 2020 it rained only about half that amount. Even 2018 was higher with 285mm. But the average growing season temperature in Beaune was higher in 2018 than in 2020: 18.5 degrees Celsius in 2020 and 19 degrees Celsius in 2018. From this data alone, we understand that the vintage 2020 is not “another 2018.”
These drastic weather conditions resulted in concentrated reds with abundant but soft tannins and a clear expression of fruit. Indeed for us, it is the most fruit- forward vintage of reds of the decade. Because we make reds with 100% whole bunch, the main challenge was not to let the fruit go overboard while keeping freshness. We aim to make reds with class, finesse and depth. This is hard to achieve when reds are dominated by an aromatic profile of carbonic maceration. Fortunately, our decisions during the vinification were judicious as our 2020 reds exhibit exquisite balance between elegance and power.
The whites are a wonderful surprise. We chose ideal picking dates, but more than anything they are blessed by the gifts of whatever the year bestowed on them, and that is not easily explained given the warm and dry growing season. And we had beginners’ luck: this first vintage of our domaine wines is made up of mostly whites! From Savigny Blanc to Hautes Côtes de Beaune Blanc and Aligoté around the village of Fussey (altitude 400 to 470 meters), all were picked in perfect health with low, but no too low, yields. It is a “grande année” for our whites because of their poise, energy and elegance.
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Vinification - Blancs
We press the whole cluster grapes with no SO2 added to the must. We ferment and age for 12 months in 228l, 350l, 400l, or 600l oak barrels. We examine each appellation/terroir and choose the barrel size for each that we feel is right, but we are still experimenting with this. For each appellation, the combination of possibilities are endless. Furthermore, each vintage is different, and we enjoy exploring this approach year after year.
Absence of new oak allows the nuances of each terroir to come to full expression. We work with indigenous yeasts, and the malolactic fermentation also occurs naturally. With no-sulfur vinification, the malolactic fermentation usually begins directly after the alcoholic fermentation, slows down in winter as the cellar gets colder, then resumes in Spring.
We do one big “batônnage” (lee-stirring) in the following July-August, and directly thereafter all the barrels are blended in a stainless steel tank for a further aging on fine lies, this time in a reductive environment (stainless steel tank). This method of élevage, first in the barrels (with an oxidative environment for the development and expansion of the wines’ character), then in stainless steel (reductive environment allowing for the stabilization and strengthening of the redox potential, and for the wine to “come into its own”) is paramount to our white winemaking, as there’s little sulfur added during élevage.
There is no fining and, occasionally, one light filtration of half of the tank, usually only for the Bourgogne Blanc. Bottling from January to February after two winters of aging in the cellar. We believe this is the best way to stabilize the wines naturally and give them ageing potential.
Vinification - Rouges
All of our reds are made without destemming, with 100% whole cluster grapes. Vinification is a transformation process of grapes to wine, and it’s a process of the sublimation of the grape’s life and energy. In order to accompany this process successfully, we as growers are best served with whole clusters. It suits us the best, though that doesn’t mean that it is the best for every grower.
A minimal sulfur use of around 15 to 20 ppm is necessary for this, as the cuvaison is relatively long for a whole-cluster vinification. It helps us avoid risks of microbial contamination at the end of cuvaison, when the pH of the fermenting juice rises, making it more hospitable to bacteria and less to yeasts. We also prepare a wild yeast starter, using the grapes from our vines, to quickly boost the yeast population in the initial stage of the fermentation. Once picked, the grapes are transferred to traditional wooden fermenting vats, together with the starter, and the fermentation starts immediately.
There is no temperature control during the skin-contact time or the “cuvaison.” There are also no mechanical pump-overs, or “remontage,” as we like to avoid pumping in general as much as possible. Initially, we manually wet the cap once a day with a bucket while we wait for “pigeage,” or punch-downs (only with our own feet), at the end of cuvaison. We “pige” once or twice a day and there are many uncrushed clusters left when we press. The alcoholic fermentation then finishes in stainless steel tank. The malolactic fermentation happens either naturally during the cuvaison or immediately after pressing.
Our wines, without exception, are aged in used oak barrels. The wines remain in barrels until October of the following year and then are blended with their fine lees in stainless steel tanks to go through the reductive stage of aging during the second winter. Our reds are neither filtered nor fined.
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