2021 Echézeaux Grand Cru

Readers should note that there will be a small reduction in Amélie Berthaut’s number of cuvées in 2022 as a couple of contracts are returning to Charles van Canneyt for his new project – Domaine des Chezeaux. “It was not an easy season because of the frost and hail one month afterward in Fixin,” Amélie Berthaut tells me. “So the vineyards were not looking great. Then, there was a lot of disease pressure. We only picked two cases of the Fixin Hervelets! It was not that bad in the end because it was a cooler vintage than 2018-2020, back to Burgundy Pinot Noir. That is good after very rich years. We started the harvest on 20 September and picked for around ten days. We sorted out some fruit, so what we put into vats was of good quality. It is very different from previous vintages. We never do a lot of pigeage, so there weren’t big changes apart from less stem addition as we had adequate freshness, plus there was some botrytis.”