2021 Bourgogne Rouge

“We are missing some cuvées this year because of the frost. We have only two or three barrels of some Premier Crus. We lost around 60% of the volume. The candles saved some of the vines in Puligny-Montrachet. There were 13 treatments during the year - sometimes twice a week when it rained just after spraying. It was very complicated. We started the picking on 19 September in good conditions with good acidity levels. It was surprisingly homogeneous in terms of ripeness, considering the frost and difficult ripeness cycles. We de-leafed on 9 August to obtain the ripeness and mitigate against oïdium and mildew. The reds were cropped between 23-26hL/ha – it was a ‘demi-récolte’ and they underwent an eight- or nine-day cuvaison. We pressed for around 3.5 hours, longer and gentler than usual, and gradually reduced the amount of SO2, year by year. The fermentation was very rapid - just two weeks. We will probably bottle the reds a little earlier, at the end of the year and the whites next March.” It’s a depleted portfolio this year, with cuvées such as the Meursault Clos du Cromin, Pommard Chanlins and Saint-Aubin En Remilly succumbing to the frost and rot. Yet what survived sends tingles down the spine, not least a brilliant duo in the form of the Puligny Les Referts and Folatières, while the Maranges Les Fussières demonstrates what this oft-overlooked appellation can do in the right hands. Those right hands come a little better than Marc and Alexandre Bachelet.