2022 Vosne-Romanée Vieilles Vignes

“I don’t think it was that easy,” Tremblay tells me when I ask about the 2022 vintage, one of the few winemakers to scotch the idea that the growing season was a walk in the park. “There was oïdium risk for a start. The vines for the Vosne-Romanée Les Rouges lie just below the woods, and there is a problem with wasps that feed on the pulp. Plus, I think we have to rethink viticulture. We have three hectares more vineyard: 1.8 hectares more of Les Beau Monts, 1.0 hectares more of Morey-Saint-Denis, and a little more in Clos Vougeot on fermage. I’m thinking about how to manage them, and it was not as easy as usual. I was a bit anxious. I started the picking on August 31, and it was a challenge to pick at the correct ripeness level. There was a lot of potassium, and so I de-stemmed most of the crop. I will start to rack in January, and I will bottle in spring.”

Cécile Tremblay might have been anxious in 2022, though maybe that was a good thing because she did not treat the growing season as a shoo-in, resulting in wines that are quite superb. Despite the wasps, I absolutely adore the Les Rouges, while the Chapelle-Chambertin is outstanding, and the Chambolle-Musigny Aux Echanges "Vinification Sans Souffre" evidence that eschewing SO2 can enhance Pinot Noir. Readers should note that there will be a slight rearrangement of cuvées next year, the details of which are quite complicated, though there may well be two Echézeaux from different lieux-dits on the horizon. Watch this space.