2019 Chambolle-Musigny Derrière La Grange 1er Cru

Antoine Amiot-Servelle showed me his 2019s that were due for imminent bottling. “We had no disease during the growing season,” he told me. “We have been organic for 10 years, but now we are using different preparations to decrease the use of copper in the vineyard. We have managed to decrease this by 20-30%. We harvested on 18 September. We have tended to increase the temperature of the cold maceration from 10°C to 13.0°. The vinification was normal with just pumping over twice a day during a three-week cuvaison and we increased the whole bunches a little, though it depends on the vineyard.” There are occasions when I felt that the whole bunch influence impeded onto the terroir expression and occluded the fruit. I cannot help thinking that a second winter in barrel would benefit these wines, gain more complexity if given a longer maturation. Indeed, the domaine is constructing a new facility that should come into operation soon - the barrel cellar always looked very cramped. Look out for a very fine Clos Saint-Denis, a commendable Charmes-Chambertin and Chambolles Les Amoureuses.