2022 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

“It was a nice vintage,” winemaker Alexandre Abel tells me, accompanied by co-proprietor Rose-Marie Ponsot. “It was a good vintage in terms of volume, especially after 2021, but not as big as others, back to something like 24 to 25hL/ha. It was a warm summer at the beginning, a bit like 2020, but with two main differences. Firstly, we got more water at the end of June with the heavy rain, around 80mm, which was important for July and August. Secondly, we had intermittent short showers that maintained good humidity in the soil, and this reduced hydric stress, especially at the end of July, which strung out the véraison. The first berries turned red in the third week of July, but they took almost four weeks to complete, finishing almost mid-August. Because the roots are so deep in the soil, they didn’t really suffer stress, and we didn’t lose any foliage. So, when temperatures decreased, the vines could restart. We thought the harvest would be earlier, but in the end, we started on September 6 and finished on September 10 for the reds. The Aligoté was picked between September 6 and 16. Conditions were ideal for picking, analysis showing a little less acidity than in 2021. I thought it was going to be lots of black fruit with something in the way of 2009, but finally, it is showing interesting balance.”