2020 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

As usual, I will not detail the latest vintage gestating in the vaulted cellars of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti as I reserve that for the annual in-bottle tasting. This year, Bertrand de Villaine and Perrinne Fenal, daughter of Lalou Bize-Leroy, took a small party of “serious” wine writers, plus myself, for a group tour around the barrels. Bullet points are that the picking took place between September 1 in Romanée-Conti and finished on September 13 in Corton-Charlemagne. Fenal told us that they conducted 15 days of harvest instead of the usual ten days, including, God forbid, a Sunday. “When did the pickers go to church?” I ask her. No doubt, prayers and confessions were conducted out in the vines. One aspect of the growing season to note is a particularly long period of véraison, which I feel had implications for vine stress (see main intro). Also, there are a couple of tweaks in the vineyard to note. First, raising the trellising in some parts of Corton and a handful of rows in La Tâche where soils are stony and dry. Secondly, some rows were not hedged [rognage], though when I asked whether arching the canes together interested de Villaine, his expression was all that was needed to say “no.” I guess they’ve made pretty good wines over the centuries—why change? During the tasting, it was fascinating to taste the La Tâche from a different cooperage. It reinforced the symbiotic relationship between DRC and François Frère de Villaine, comparing it to “an old married couple.” Maybe once in bottle, the wine becomes the La Tâche I am familiar with? These trial barrels seemed to denude the wine of its signature DNA. Anyway, I will let the tasting notes do the talking and return to the wines when they are bottled.

This year’s presentation of the new releases from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti marked the beginning of a new chapter. It was the first time new Co-Managers Perrine Fenal and Bertrand de Villaine presented the wines following the retirement of Aubert de Villaine.

As I sat down to taste the wines, I thought it was probably a very good time for a transition because that is what Burgundy is all about right now. Transition. The first thing evident in the 2020 reds is their intense red/purplish color. I guess this is present-day Burgundy. These are not your parents’ wines; that much is clear. We are in another era, figuratively and literally.

Two thousand-twenty is the third in a cycle of historically warm and dry years spanning vintages 2018 through 2020. And yet it is also the most surprising of the three years. As much as the wines are dark, deep and richly flavored, they are also remarkably fresh and vibrant. Are the vines adapting to current conditions, or are vineyard managers and winemakers becoming more skilled at dealing with the New Burgundy, or are other factors at play? I suspect the answer to that question, if there indeed is an answer, is pretty complex.