2020 Meursault Les Clous

I caught up with winemaker Frédéric Weber at this Beaune-based producer, and he made a selection for me to taste, since I did not have time to go through their 70-odd cuvées. As usual, Weber was armed with plenty of useful information about the growing season. “The 2020 vintage was warm and dry,” he explained. “The winter was humid and warmer than usual. Bud break was sooner than 2011, in the middle of March, and for the first time we started de-budding on April 14. The flowering was observed around May 8–9 in Meursault and Puligny, and mi-fleuraison was May 15. From June to August, the average temperature was hot, but the main factor was not the heat but the dryness. In this respect, I can’t say that the clay soil suffered less than the limestone. We had 1.7°C higher summer temperatures, 300 more hours of sun and 200mm less rain than average, but 2020 is closer to 2016 in style, with high maturity. You had to taste the berries to find the right order for the harvest. A north wind accentuated the drought, and the Pinot Noir suffered more than the Chardonnay, though I did no effeuillage [de-leafing]. I decided to start picking on August 19, the earliest since 1731. In 2003 it was two days later, but that was a very hot vintage with a two-week heat wave, whereas in 2020, you had high maturity and slow concentration. The hang-time was 84 days – you don't really get the 100 days any more. We picked only in the morning and rented a refrigerated unit to keep the fruit cool. It was important to harvest the Pinot Noir sooner, and it was cropped around 28hl/ha, less than expected as there was less juice inside the berry, while the skin was thick and the pips were rich in tannins. So we did a short 10- to 12-day maceration, just punching down the cap at the end of fermentation. The balance is good between alcohol (13.0°–13.5°) and high levels of tartaric, pH around 3.5 and 3.6. The color is like a Syrah! The Côte de Beaune has around 30% whole cluster while the Côte de Nuits has around 50%. Also, there is a huge difference between the terroirs, and much more energy. The big surprise is the right, as the profile is so classic. For the whites, I racked with a lot of lees in barrel to protect the natural freshness and natural acidity.” The highlights in this range were a superb Meursault-Charmes and two great Chevalier-Montrachets. Overall, I preferred Bouchard Père's whites to reds, the latter perhaps showing slightly more confit-like black fruit instead of red, though I did very much admire the Chambertin, Bonnes-Mares, Le Corton and Nuit Saint-Georges Les Cailles.