2020 Pommard La Croix Blanche

“My English is not so good today," lamented Anne Parent in superb English, as we switched to her mother tongue. She is probably a little fatigued, like all winemakers, after the challenges of the 2021 vintage. Still, she was ecstatic about her 2020s, which we tasted together, both from the domaine and from her négoce arm, made from purchased grapes, some where they pick the fruit themselves, labeled under Jacques Parent. “The dryness in 2020 was not the same as in 2019," Anne Parent told me. "There was more acidity, tartaric acidity. It was difficult to choose the picking date, and in the end, we began on August 25. You had to not pick too late to maintain good freshness and drinkability. In the end, alcohol levels are around 13.5° to 13.6°. I feel that the wine is one for cellaring, more so than 2019. I was not confident with stems a few years ago, but in warm vintages, it is more interesting to use whole bunch, as it gives the wine finesse and a different expression. Everything is bottled under natural corks that are individually checked for taint.” There is always a modern sheen to Parent’s wines, though I found many of them well balanced and retaining that crucial sense of Pinoté. Her move to greater use of demi-muids has been beneficial. Her real strength is among her Pommard Premier Crus, such as the Les Chaponnières, but don’t overlook her excellent Ladoix.