CHABLIS
Samuel Billaud
Samuel Billaud – who makes some of our favourite Chablis – always offers us our first taste of the vintage. He ran us through his range in London back in July. Even at that early stage, the wines were impressive. He found it a relatively easy year, with minimal disease pressure, and he picked from 11th September, bringing in “comfortable” volumes, in his words. He has lots of venerable old vines, so while he harvested around 60hl/ha for his village Chablis, this number dropped down to 30-35hl/ha for his Grands Crus.
The acidity levels are good, if not high (3.2-3.5pH), with modest alcohol levels (between 12 and 13.5%), and stylistically remind Billaud of 2018 for its approachability. He highlighted how important it was to control yields in the vintage, a sacrifice that he was happy to make to ensure the quality of his crop. The wines are open and aromatically expressive, yet with that typical Chablisien steely acidity and – in Billaud’s hands, at least – great precision.
2023 Chablis, Premier Cru, Montée de Tonnerre, Samuel Billaud
MARSANNAY
Domaine Charles Audoin
The 2023 vintage was a “belle surprise” (beautiful surprise) for Cyril Audoin. He explained how important de-leafing was to manage disease pressure, but to keep leaves that will act as a parasol for the bunches – shielding them from potential sunburn. At the end of August, even after an extensive green harvest, he was worried about ripeness levels – but then the heatwave hit and saved the vintage. In a week, he saw some plots accrue three degrees of potential alcohol – and suddenly needed to start picking on 8th September. (It happened to coincide with France playing New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup – meaning he rushed from picking and pressing his first 2023s to the match in Paris, and celebrations that continued until 6am following the day.)
He de-stemmed all his Pinot Noir in 2023, feeling the ripening period was too short for the stems to fully lignify, while also noting that the skins were particularly thick – providing plenty of tannins. It’s a year that he feels offers great terroir-transparency and – although he and his father thought that 2022 was the property’s best vintage to date, they’re increasingly convinced that 2023 is even better, with beautiful aromatics. It’s hard not to agree: these were some of the best wines we tasted, and continue to offer incredible value. The reds were full of energy, fresh and juicy with lightweight tannins and vibrant red fruit; while the whites were particularly striking in their tension – especially for a warmer vintage.
2023 Marsannay Blanc, Au Champ Salomon, Domaine Charles Audoin
Domaine René Bouvier
Bernard Bouvier is at the helm of this property today, and has transformed it since he took over in 1992 – making it one of Marsannay’s most exciting addresses. It was “an easy year”, he told us of 2023 – with rain when it was needed and no major disease pressure. The challenge, Bouvier felt, was to manage the yields; after de-budding and green-harvesting, he brought in around 40hl/ha – more than the 30-35hl/ha he does in a normal year, but nothing too excessive. He describes it as a classical vintage, reminiscent of 2022 but with lower tannin levels, making them more approachable. The saline whites were singing, while the reds are darker-fruited, concentrated and dense yet light on their feet, with mouth-watering tannins – beautifully expressing the property’s style.
2023 Morey-Saint-Denis, En la Rue de Vergy, Domaine René Bouvier
GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN
Domaine Fourrier + Jean-Marie Fourrier
It was all change at Domaine Fourrier when we visited this year: Jean-Marie has a smart new tasting room and his son has taken over an estate in the Jura. His wines, however – both domaine and négoce – were as good as ever, and certainly a highlight of our tastings. For him, the vintage recalls 1999, but with more phenolic maturity and ripeness – it is, after all, still “issued from an era of global warming”, as he says. He felt there was a particularly narrow window to pick in 2023 – risking losing identity if you picked too early and high alcohols if you picked too late. His harvest got underway on 4th September – one of the first we came across in the Côte de Nuits. He always de-stems everything, but chose to re-combine around 30% stems into the ferments this vintage, absorbing phenolic maturity, but wary of more because of the impact on pH.
He didn’t green-harvest (something he feels is a correction of overly vigorous rootstock/vine material), but – with his old vines (averaging between 70 and 110 years in age) – yields were around 40-45hl/ha. The wines are between 13.4 and 14% alcohol, with pHs between 3.55 and 3.6. He doesn’t think they’ll shut down, staying crunchy and delicious for at least their first five years. He likes the sappiness of the wines, something he attributes to his use of stems. These are translucent, perfumed expressions of the year – with all the finesse that we have come to expect of this address. These are fine-boned, ethereal, weightless Pinot Noirs that have wonderful persistence. Don’t miss them.
2023 Gevrey-Chambertin, Premier Cru, Perrière, Vieille Vigne, Jean-Marie Fourrier
2023 Griotte-Chambertin, Vieille Vigne, Grand Cru, Domaine Fourrier
Domaine Tortochot
Based in Gevrey-Chambertin, Domaine Tortochot may not carry the cachet of the village’s top domaines, but this estate can offer brilliant value – with great terroir transparency in their top Premiers and Grands Crus, and some fabulous village wines, with a good swathe of old vines among their holdings. The 2023 vintage was the first to yield a full crop since Chantal Tortochot took over the estate from her father in 1996. They harvested around 10th September and had to de-stem everything to get it all into the winery. Beyond that, there was little change in the winemaking, although they acidified a handful of cuvées where they felt it was necessary. The resulting wines are impressively concentrated, with rich, dark fruit.
2023 Gevrey-Chambertin, Champerrier, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Tortochot
Domaine Duroché
“The 2023s are magnificent,” said Pierre Duroché as we started our tasting. He and Marianne made some wonderful wines this year. They picked from 5th September (around the same time as Fourrier, above) over 10 days, working only from 6am to 12 noon, leaving the fruit in their cool room overnight to process the following day. Their yields were naturally constricted by the age of their vines, with 40-45hl/ha, while the high level of millerandage (shot berries) in their vines helps with air flow and therefore disease pressure – something that was particularly useful in 2023.
For the first time ever, their malolactic conversion was complete before the alcoholic fermentation had finished, making them tricky to manage, but the resulting wines are beautifully clean – as is always the case from this precise winemaker. The wines are moderate in alcohol (averaging 13%) with pHs between 3.3 and 3.7, depending on the wine. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, however, and these are beautifully fresh, elegant wines of stunning finesse that left us speechless. Pierre considers them a combination of 2017, for their precision and transparency, and 2022 for their “matière”, or density. It’s also the first vintage for their new Corton, a parcel of Rognet which they are farming themselves although don’t own. The 2023s are a stunning effort and highlight of the vintage.
2023 Gevrey-Chambertin, Premier Cru, Lavaut Saint-Jacques, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Duroché
Domaine Henri Rebourseau
It was our first visit to this estate, which is now majority-owned by the Bouygues brothers (Martin and Olivier), of Ch. Montrose and Clos Rougeard. When the brothers arrived in 2018, they started renovating the winery, which was finished in 2024. They have 13.5 hectares of vines in total, including holdings in the Grands Crus of Clos Vougeot, Charmes-Chambertin, Mazis-Chambertin, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze and Chambertin. They started picking on 11th September in 2023, chilling the fruit prior to processing. The oak needs time to integrate, but there’s an earthy, iron tang to the wines and perfumed, floral aromatics too, with alcohols that average around 13%. The wines are very Gevrey in style, hinting at rusticity, but offering elegance and class too.
2023 Mazy-Chambertin, Grand Cru, Domaine Henri Rebourseau
MOREY-SAINT-DENIS
Domaine Georges Lignier
Fresh from the vines, as usual, Benoît Stehly still seemed to be in shock after the 2023 vintage – bringing in a very healthy crop of around 50hl/ha, a similar volume to a year like 1999 or 2001. Historically he’s been known for his use of permanent grass cover, but again in 2023 he ploughed in the spring to reduce competition with the vines, allowing the grass to grow once more after flowering. He normally manages to avoid green-harvesting with the age of his vines, but was forced to in 2023, and felt regular spraying was important to manage the moderate mildew pressure. He picked from 10th September, but found there was so much fruit he couldn’t always process it in one day – meaning he had to use dry ice to keep it overnight, and process the following day.
Sorting was, in his view, essential for quality in the vintage, with some less ripe or burnt berries – and he removed as much as 15% of the fruit. As he said, it was an endurance test – a year that challenged him and his team, only to be followed by 2024. The good news was the plentiful yield, so generous that he didn’t have enough tank space to do any whole-bunch ferments. With the high pHs, he found acidification was necessary and has watched the wines carefully to ensure microbial stability. He likes their site expression and “gourmand” style, feeling that – like the 2017s – they will be approachable young and provide brilliant mid-term drinking. They’re certainly rounder in style than the 2017s, with plenty of flesh and dark, red fruit – revealing increased complexity as you move up through the range, from village to Premier and Grand Cru.
2023 Bonnes-Mares, Grand Cru, Domaine Georges Lignier
Domaine des Lambrays
Winemaker Jacques Devauges works hard to create balance in his vines and avoids green-harvesting at all costs, but circumstances in 2023 made it unavoidable. He emphasised how delicate the process is – with the need to reach each vine and drop the right amount of fruit accordingly, something that is challenging with massal selection and varying vine age. He also waited until the end of July to green harvest, to avoid the vine compensating with bigger bunches. The potentially excessive yield, as well as over-ripeness with the late-season heatwaves, were the risks in his mind.
He brought in his Chardonnay from 1 September, starting on the Pinot Noir on 7th, with everything in by 15th, with 41hl/ha on average. The vinification and élevage was all relatively normal, with average pH levels (3.65 for Clos des Lambrays) – something he attributes in part to organic and biodynamic farming. For him, the resulting wines are seductive and juicy, reminiscent of 1999 but with more “matière”. While the whites are hard to come by, they were exceptional – bright and concentrated with real energy. The reds, meanwhile, were beautiful – with incredible transparency across the range. Expect alluring, spicy aromatics and effortless concentration, with juicy fruit, refined tannins and savoury tones that ground the wines.
2023 Clos des Lambrays, Grand Cru, Domaine des Lambrays
Domaine Henri Jouan
Philippe Jouan was as gregarious as ever when we visited him this year – particularly with a smart new pressing area and cuverie (installed in time for the 2024 vintage), meaning he has more space than ever before to work, as well as more sophisticated equipment. It’s out with the old and in with the new, as he finally bid farewell to the 108-year-old basket press (which is now a decorative feature outside the winery), and his son started working alongside him too. Historically, he’s sold a large portion of his crop to larger négociants, but as of 2024 it is all being bottled by the domaine – meaning there will be a little more of these wines available moving forward (after 2024’s measly offering).
Jouan is a firm believer in deleafing early in the season, to encourage the grape skins to thicken and therefore avoid any sun damage later in the season. He de-budded twice but didn’t green harvest, explaining that the vines would try to compensate for the lost fruit – meaning the remaining bunches and grapes grow too quickly, with the skins likely to break and lead to rot. He was one of those to pick earlier in 2023, from 5th September, with the maximum yield. Alcohol levels here are moderate, 13.2-13.3% for the village wines, reaching up to 13.7% for the Grand Cru Clos Saint-Denis. The wines are supple and balanced, with pretty aromatics, leaning towards floral and spice, but with plenty of juicy red fruit behind. Tasting a 2012 Clos Saint-Denis only reinforced how well these wines age.
2023 Morey-Saint-Denis, Premier Cru, Clos Sorbé, Domaine Henri & Philippe Jouan
CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY
Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat
The young Charles van Canneyt is busier than ever before, with 2023 the first vintage for the estate he’s purchased with his wife, Domaine des Chézeaux in Gevrey-Chambertin. It has impressive holdings – including most of Griottes-Chambertin – and is an extremely exciting project (one which we’ll be talking about more in due course). Back at Hudelot-Noëllat, though, the wines continue to impress. Van Canneyt explained how important it was to pick quickly enough in 2023, to retain freshness with the heatwaves. He brought in all his fruit over five days from 10th September. He expected a lot, but found the yield was even greater than anticipated.
He did saignée on all the wines – the first time ever that he’d used the method, feeling it was important for their concentration, while also helping reduce the alcohol level slightly (with the first free-run juice the highest in sugar and therefore potential alcohol). For him, the wines are “digeste” in style, not as big as a year like 2018 or 2017, but with a combination of ripeness and freshness that allows them to be approached in youth. He anticipates bottling them a little earlier than normal to capture the freshness. Almost all the wines sit between 13 and 13.7% alcohol, with lush fruit, soft textures and layered complexity – with the spicy and floral perfume that is typical of this address.
2023 Nuits-Saint-Georges, Premier Cru, Les Murgers, Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat
VOSNE-ROMANÉE
Domaine Georges Noëllat
Maxime Cheurlin always lets the wines do the talking – and this year they had plenty to say, as some of the best wines we’ve ever seen from this address. For him, success in the 2023 vintage was the consequence of “lots of little things”. Overall, he felt it was a relatively easy year, but sorting was key – with some shrivelled or sunburnt berries that risked losing freshness in the wines, as well as potentially harsh tannins.
He picked from 11th September and – with de-budding as well as two green harvests – he produced around 35-36hl/ha. He used reefers to chill anything picked after 10am, processing it the following day, something he felt was important for the freshness and aromatics of the wines. He de-stemmed everything in the vintage and used saignée on a handful of cuvées. The results are some of the best wines we’ve tasted here, almost flamboyant with spicy aromatics and polished but juicy, sweet fruit, yet a freshness that makes them very “gourmand”.
2023 Vosne-Romanée, Premier Cru, Les Beaux Monts, Domaine Georges Noëllat
Nicole Lamarche
Nicole Lamarche added a number of négoce bottlings to her range in 2023, including a flurry of whites: Meursault Vieruils, Hautes Côtes de Nuits Villages and Rully. Amazingly, they ended up with lower yields than in 2022 – having done such severe de-budding and green-harvesting. They harvested from 9th September for the Chardonnay, moving onto the Pinot Noir on 11th. The final wines sit between 12.8 and 13.5%, with pHs that are between 3.3 and 3.5 for the reds, in typical Lamarche style.
She didn’t use any whole-bunch this year to preserve the acidity. For her, extraction was key: she emphasised that – in her view – the timing of any pump-overs is what matters most, rather than how gentle the process is, deciding everything based on smell and taste. The resulting wines bear the Lamarche signature – typically ethereal and aromatically expressive. Almost transparent, the wines are mesmerising with zippy acidity, needing time to reveal themselves fully on the palate. A 2017 Malconsorts only further reenforced the quality chez Lamarche – a wine that was amazingly complex, with impressive density and yet no heaviness whatsoever.
2023 Vosne-Romanée, Premier Cru, Les Chaumes, Domaine Lamarche
NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES
Domaine Faiveley
The 2023 vintage was the largest in Faiveley’s two-century history. Managing yield was, however, key, Erwan Faiveley explained. They did extensive green-harvesting, hiring around 15 extra people to tackle the job; but even with the additional staff, they couldn’t cover all 50 hectares of their vines. He decided to sacrifice a few of their lesser parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin (he ended up trialling saignée on these parcels to see if he could redeem them, but sold off the result in bulk). They started harvesting in Rully on 5th September, following on 6th in Puligny-Montrachet and finishing in Marsannay on 20th. Interestingly he felt that the harvest date was less important in 2023 versus other vintages, provided the crop-load had been controlled.
Their hard work paid off, with the range extremely impressive. He and Technical Director Jérôme Flous continue to raise the bar here, producing wines that rival those of far more lauded estates. Alcohol levels are between 13 and 13.5%, with pHs for the reds higher than normal, around 3.7-3.8, yet with a great sense of freshness in the wines. The reds are lithe, with dainty aromatics and a savoury restraint that perfectly complements the juicy fruit. While there are fewer whites here, yet again they were a highlight. As Erwan said, 2023 is “extraordinary for Chardonnay” – and that certainly seems to be the case in the Faiveley team’s hands, with wines that offer perfume, energy and persistence.
2023 Mazis Chambertin, Grand Cru, Domaine Faiveley
SAVIGNY-LÈS-BEAUNE
Domaine Jean-Marc & Hugues Pavelot
Long a FINE+RARE favourite, Domaine Jean-Marc & Hugues Pavelot is one of the leading producers in Savigny-lès-Beaune, with extensive holdings throughout the Premiers Crus. For Hugues Pavelot, 2023 was relatively easy. He was a little worried by the cool weather in early August, but the shift from the third week of the month allayed concerns over potential disease pressure and ripeness levels. His team started picking from 9th September, with everything processed on the day it was picked – making for extremely long days for him and his team. The final yield was around 50hl/ha, generous but not quite reaching the legal maximum.
With 13.5% alcohol on average and pHs sitting between 3.6 and 3.7, the wines really deliver. Hugues compares the year to a solar vintage such as 2018 or 2020, but with more freshness and minerality – combining some characteristics of 2019 or 2022, perhaps. He used a 20hl concrete egg for his village Savigny-lès-Beaune, as well as 30% whole-bunch fermentation – giving a wine of lovely freshness and minerality, a real highlight this year. The whites were particularly good this year – opulent yet dynamic with vibrant acidity. The reds, meanwhile, offer delicate fruit and silky tannins – crunchy, fresh and precise wines.
2023 Savigny-lès-Beaune, Premier Cru, La Dominode, Domaine Jean-Marc & Hugues Pavelot
BEAUNE
Remoissenet Père & Fils
Operating both as a domaine and négociant, Remoissenet has – over the past 150 years – established access to some of Burgundy’s finest vineyards, either directly or via some very prestigious connections. The team here harvested from 10th September, over two weeks – bringing in good volumes across the Côte d’Or, although they noted how Meursault struggled a little with dry conditions in August/September and older vineyards naturally offered less.
Cécile Begin emphasised how the high yields were key, helping balance the warmth of the end of the growing season. The wines are impressive, with a flight of open, rounder-styled Chablis, yet still with a distinctive steeliness. The whites have a lovely weight of stone-fruit, some verging on the exotic, yet with great tension – the mouth-watering acidity keeping them in check. As for the reds, they are full of dark red fruit, often with a pleasing brightness to the brooding fruit and fine-but-firm tannins.
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin, Premier Cru, Les Cazetiers, Remoissenet Père & Fils
Bouchard Père & Fils
There is much change at Bouchard, now under the Artémis umbrella (owned by the Pinault family of Ch. Latour). The 2023 vintage is the first to consist of only domaine wines, meaning significantly smaller production, with 500,000 bottles in total, versus 1.2 million in 2022. Winemaker Frédéric Weber emphasised how, more than ever before, he’s able to focus on quality above all else. The wines will also no longer be released en primeur, with the 2023s set to be released only in 2026.
While it was a warm year, especially over the winter and spring, Weber told us, there were significantly fewer sunshine hours versus 2018 or 2020, for example – and plenty of rain too. The most striking thing was the volume of fruit on the vines, with the biggest bunches of grapes he’d ever seen, especially for the Pinot Noir. He explained how a single bud produced two or three bunches versus the normal one, meaning green-harvesting was essential – and his team dropped around half of the fruit (with an additional 40 people hired for the task). A hailstorm on 11th July hit most of their Meursault Premiers Crus, wiping out around 40% of the crop in these sites (although luckily Charmes escaped). He noted how, between the two heatwaves at the end of the season, there was a cool period with rain – stalling the development of the Pinot Noir, before the second heatwave pushed it forward again. This, he felt, was one reason that harvest dates were tricky. He had to sample much more than normal to try and determine where to start when, eventually beginning with Chardonnay in Beaune on 2nd September (the first time ever that the property didn’t start with Volnay Caillerets), bringing in the first Pinot Noir from 4th and finishing the harvest on 12th September.
The team did a lot of sorting to remove any sunburnt or rotten berries (the latter from that late August rain). Vinification was fairly classic, but he was careful not to extract the green seed tannin with the Pinot Noir, working with cooler temperatures and minimal punch-downs over a shorter period (15 days maximum). For him, the wines are notable for their site expression, but unlike any vintage he can recall – elegant and crunchy with fresh red fruit. Many of the reds have a mineral character, elegant and vibrant with fresh, savoury finishes, while the whites combine powerful, ripe fruit and round textures with mouth-watering acidity.
2023 Savigny-lès-Beaune, Premier Cru, Les Lavières, Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils
Louis Jadot
“It’s probably our future,” said Frédéric Barnier at Louis Jadot, talking about harvesting in a heatwave – a major challenge of 2023 and something they expect to face more moving forward. Although difficult for the team, especially those picking, the heatwave helped concentrate the Pinot Noir, bringing much-needed density and structure. Barnier emphasised how important it was to manage the disease pressure; although it was nothing in comparison to 2024, there was enough rain and mild weather to pose a threat. They harvested from 4th September, starting in Volnay and Meursault. Fortunately, they had just completed a new pressing area for the whites, with a cool room and air conditioning – something very welcome for the vintage.
On the reds, Barnier opted to bleed off some juice on most of the wines, to lend further concentration (the first time he’s done this in his time at Jadot). He is one of many to compare the reds to a modern version of 1999, or a richer 2017, while he feels the whites are perhaps closest to 2018, offering a richer style of Chardonnay. They always play with the malolactic at Jadot, and in 2023 blocked the malolactic fermentation on around half of their lots, to preserve the acidity in the wines and balance their natural richness. The resulting whites have green, mouth-watering acidity that sits alongside more voluptuous fruit and soft, honeyed florals; while the reds are relatively dark-fruited for the vintage, with juicy fruit, chalky tannins and often a saline finish.
2023 Beaune, Premier Cru, Aux Cras, Louis Jadot
Albert Bichot
The 2023 vintage at Albert Bichot was the last under longtime winemaker Alain Serveau, who has now passed the baton to Matthieu Mangenot, who previously made the group’s wines in Chablis at Domaine Long-Depaquit. For the Bichot team, managing the yield and mildew pressure were key – meaning keeping on top of treatments and green-harvesting, especially for the Pinot Noir. They started picking on September 8th in Côte de Beaune, working quickly to retain acidity and avoid high alcohol levels. Although it was technically the hottest year on record, the team highlighted how the rainfall separates it from other “solar” years. The wines are amazingly approachable now. The whites are mineral, floral and expressive, largely in the green fruit spectrum, while the reds are soft-fruited, with clear delineation between each site.
2023 Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Albert Bichot
Joseph Drouhin
As Véronique Drouhin explained, most of the 2023 growing season was mild – it was only at the end of August that the heat hit, meaning she and her team needed to adapt and react. They started harvesting on 2nd September in the Côte d’Or, bringing in everything fairly quickly. Both green-harvesting to manage yield and sorting once the fruit reached the winery were important – but otherwise the vintage wasn’t too challenging. For the reds, she played with whole-bunch across the range because the stems were sufficiently ripe, using around 15% on the village wines and 40% on the Premiers and Grands Crus to bring further complexity and longevity.
For Drouhin, the vintage is a little more closed than 2022, and she’s seen the wines change massively during élevage. She has decided to keep the wines on their lees for longer than normal, feeling that this allows the wine to nourish themselves and for the terroir to emerge. Tasted in London in November, there are some brilliant wines this year – especially from their domaine parcels. The whites in particular stood out, opulent and rich, yet with a great line of acidity, while the reds offer ripe, fleshy fruit and chewy tannins, needing time to integrate.
2023 Montrachet, Grand Cru, Marquis de Laguiche, Joseph Drouhin
Domaine de Bellene + Maison Roche de Bellene
For Nicolas Potel, 2023 is a technical vintage – one that challenged him to use everything he’d learnt in recent years. The volumes made it tiring, but there were no major stresses to the growing season itself. He feels the season is perhaps closest to 2020, but with rain in August that totally transformed the result. He started harvesting from 5th September – and working over such a wide array of sites – only finished in early October. His yields averaged 50hl/ha and – as with several other producers – he had to de-stem most of the Pinot Noir due to space.
Tasting through the range here is always special, with an unparallelled line-up of Grands Crus. In 2023, the whites are crisp and mineral, with great tension, while the reds are airy, almost lacy, with perfume and energy. The Bonnes Mares and Grands Echezeaux were particular highlights.
2023 Coteaux Bourguignons, L’Eclos des Abeilles, Domaine de Bellene
Olivier Bernstein
At Olivier Bernstein, each arch of their cellar is dedicated to a vintage – and the difference between the very empty 2024 space versus the 2023’s, stacked high, further highlights the contrasting yields of these two years. The team here typically works with very low yields, and their “high” volumes in 2023 were 28-35hl/ha – partly due to the age of many of their vines, but also thanks to extensive de-budding and green-harvesting. Winemaker Richard Séguin noted that they saw the vine maturity stall for three days in the late August heatwave. They picked from 6th September, over four days. The stems were so ripe that they decided to use 80% whole-bunch fermentation (which was rare this year), liking the sense of freshness it brought to the wines. The resulting wines have around 13% alcohol and a very modest 3.38-3.4pH. They are exotic wines, with sweet-spice perfume, brightness and a supple, silken texture, but often a mineral line and firmer tannic grip, giving them a particularly age-worthy framework, despite the juicy, up-front fruit. An undeniable success this year.
2023 Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze, Grand Cru, Olivier Bernstein
Domaine A.-F. Gros
It was fascinating tasting at A.-F. Gros’s winery in Beaune, our first time visiting this address. The style has evolved significantly in recent years, with Mathias Parent at the helm of the winemaking since 2013. He’s reduced the portion of new oak and introduced whole-bunch fermentation, partly as a response to global warming but also for aromatic complexity. In 2023, most of the wines saw 30-50% whole-bunch, with 50-60% on the Grands Crus, and maximum 30% new oak. They’ve also introduced Clayver ceramic eggs, choosing to use these in lieu of older oak moving forward, to focus on elegance, purity and precision in the wines. In 2023, around half of each cuvée is being raised in Clayver.
The volumes in the vintage were normal for them, with similar yields to 2022, although the bunches were noticeably large – twice the size of normal (180 versus 90g). Caroline Parent explained how they had originally planned to start harvesting on 1st September, but when the first heatwave arrived in August, they decided to delay and take advantage of the sunny conditions, starting their harvest on 8th September in Beaujolais and 10th in the Côte d’Or. She noted how much the wines have been changing during their élevage. The wines are – as you might expect – light-bodied, dainty and long, with soft tannins, pretty florals and berry fruit. Expressive and fresh, despite having high pHs on paper, they were a treat to taste.
2023 Richebourg, Grand Cru, Domaine A.-F. Gros
BLIGNY-LÈS-BEAUNE
Dominique Lafon
While Dominique Lafon might be better known for Domaine des Comtes Lafon, he also has his eponymous label – officially a négociant, although he owns or farms all the vineyards. As of 2024, his son Guillaume is working alongside him. For them, the challenge in 2023 was retaining freshness and complexity – ensuring they picked sufficiently early, sorted out any shrivelled, underripe or rotten berries, and used very gentle extraction. The results are extremely impressive. The reds are powerful and broad, yet not at all rustic, wearing their structure lightly, meaning they are less approachable than some 2023s – yet no poorer for it. The whites are beautifully classic, echoing the Comtes Lafon style – mineral, creamy and utterly glorious in their power.
2023 Meursault, Les Narvaux, Dominique Lafon
MEURSAULT
Henri Boillot
Henri Boillot produced a “normal” crop rather than that of a more generous year, with 40hl/ha on average. It was, the team told us, “a perfect summer” and they started picking in Vonay on 28th August, bringing the first Chardonnay in three days later, with the harvest lasting around 10 days in total. There was a little frost however that mostly impacted their ability to purchase fruit – meaning there are very few négoce bottlings this year, representing only 10% of production. For Henri, the whites are reminiscent of 2016 but with more texture and energy, while the Pinot Noir – where yields were managed appropriately – recalls the wines of 2019.
With the warm end to the growing season, the whites offer a generous, ripe core of fruit -but with lovely freshness and restraint, keeping them razor-sharp and in line with the Boillot style. The reds are much lighter in style than they once were, and the 2023s offer crunchy fruit, pretty aromatics and fine tannins.
2023 Puligny-Montrachet, Premier Cru, Clos de la Mouchère, Domaine Henri Boillot
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET
Domaine Paul Pernot
Synonymous with Puligny-Montrachet, this estate is – along with Leflaive and De Montille – one of the village’s largest shareholders. Brothers Michel and Paul Jr have worked together on the estate since 1978 and have carried on their father’s, Paul Pernot Sr’s, traditional techniques, making a forward style of Puligny-Montrachet that can be enjoyed after a couple of years in bottle.
The team here harvested from 1st September and – unusually for 2023 – bringing in slightly lower yields than in 2022. The reason is their high proportion of old vines, especially in the Premiers Crus, which naturally reduced volumes, yielding around 40hl/ha. Michel Pernot felt it was key to wait long enough to harvest grapes with good maturity and describes the resulting wines as rich and aromatic, reminding him of 2020. He acidified a handful of cuvées, as was needed, although this certainly doesn’t stand out in the final wines. Open, round and richly fruited white Burgundies, these wines nevertheless have lovely freshness and a strain of minerality. Approachable in youth, the best wines will also evolve beautifully in bottle.
2023 Puligny-Montrachet, Premier Cru, Les Pucelles, Domaine Paul Pernot
Alvina Pernot
The 2023 vintage was the first in which Alvina Pernot was focused exclusively on her eponymous label, the wines she is making with her husband Philippe Abadie, having stepped away from her family estate, Domaine Paul Pernot (see above). Even flowering, with generally good conditions throughout the growing season made for a generous but not excessive crop. They were – as ever – one of the first to be out harvesting, from 27th August, keen to capture freshness and purity in their wines. They feel it’s a classical vintage, with alcohols between 12 and 13.5% and pH sitting between 3.19 and 3.45, depending on the wine. The range has shifted a little, adding Puligny-Montrachet Champs Gains, while 2022 was the last vintage for Saint-Aubin Créots, their Saint-Romain and Puligny-Montrachet La Garenne. Having trialled clay amphorae and liked results, the couple has invested in two larger amphorae to use going forward.
The wines are true to their style – lean and taut yet with plenty of concentration beneath, and beautiful balance between ripe fruit and the pinpoint acidity. They are terroir driven and impressive – yet another strong showing for this rising star.
2023 Meursault, Premier Cru, Les Perrières, Alvina Pernot
SAINT-AUBIN
Domaine Hubert Lamy
It was interesting, as ever, to revisit the 2022 vintage in amongst our en primeur tastings – especially in Olivier Lamy’s smart new tasting room (along with the traditional handful of older vintages). Lamy feels 2022 was a complex vintage – and quite heterogenous. While Chassagne and Puligny had plenty of rain, the freer-draining soils in Saint-Aubin made for more water stress – something that he believes added richness and complexity to the wines. It’s a modern vintage for him, a little reminiscent of 2018, and he didn’t use any new oak on the wines. The range is impressive, as ever, tightly wound and lime-edged, but there’s a softness to the fruit core and pure, chalky minerality.
CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET
Au Pied du Mont Chauve
For Francine Picard at Au Pied du Mont Chauve, 2023 was a year of “abundance” – both in quality and quantity. Apart from some localised hail in Mercurey in July, the growing season was relatively easy – with no more work than normal. They started picking on 3rd September in Puligny-Montrachet, brining everything in over eight days. They’re using a little more new oak for the élevage of the reds (25-30% new) to bring additional roundness to the mouth-feel. Picard finds the whites mineral and fresh, with great acidity (pH 3.22-3.37 here for the whites, 3.55-3.7 for the reds). The style here is always generous, and the 2023s are true to that style – with a satisfying, mouthcoating roundness, but lovely freshness too, keeping them balanced and hard to resist.
2023 Chassagne-Montrachet, Premier Cru, Clos Saint Jean, Au Pied du Mont Chauve
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