2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er Cru

“I was born on September 4,” Pascale Marchand told me. “I never thought we would finish a harvest before my birthday.” It came to pass as this Nuit-Saint-Georges-based producer/négociant commenced picking on August 25 in Gevrey-Chambertin and Pommard and finished the day before Marchand's big day. “I think Covid expedited things a little. People just wanted to get the harvest done. The paradox of the vintage is that 2020 does not seem like a hot growing season,” continued head winemaker Mark Fincham. “I don’t think the vineyard ever closed down because there was a lot of rain earlier in the year. In 2018 the heat blocked the growth cycle. You never got that blockage in 2020, and there weren’t the same high temperatures. The fruit was very good, so the vinification was easy. I think there was quite a bit of acidification going on around Burgundy. We did a little. We’ll probably bottle the racked wines in January, others in March and April, the whites in December.” It is good to see Tawse starting to get the kudos they deserve. Their diaspora of holdings between their domaine and négociant range can be a bit disorienting, but there are always exceptionally fine wines to be found, this year crowned by a brilliant Mazoyères-Chambertin that had the audacity to surpass the Musigny. There is plenty on offer down the hierarchy in various appellations, and the wines remain well-priced compared with others.