2021 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru Cuvée Classique

“It was a crazy season,” Edouard Labet, sporting a very natty “Movember” moustache, informs me when I drop into his winery within the hallowed walls of Clos Vougeot. “The good thing was the insight and the feedback [that it gave us]. We have rethought our pruning method respecting sap movement and vigour of the vines. So we started pruning in two phases, the first a loose pruning and the second getting rid of excess buds. It seems the common sense approach. We were severely affected by frost in Côte de Beaune for the Domaine Pierre Labet cuvées, not even 10% for the whites [equivalent to a measly five barrels]. We did slightly more in the Côte de Beaune reds. Clos Vougeot was better: 60-70% of a regular yield. It was a tough year, for sure. We hired a helicopter with other winemakers, but I would not do it again – it doesn’t fit in with our organic/biodynamic principles. We picked from 23 September in the Clos de Vougeot. The sorting was important though there was less fruit to sort than expected. We continued to vinify without sulphur and didn’t use more than 50% whole clusters. The 2021s only opened up after the 2022 harvest and that reminds me of an old-fashioned style of Burgundy of the 1980s or 1990s. The wines are fresh and lively and they follow a different line to recent vintages.”