2020 Beaune Village

The most smiley man in Burgundy was in great form when I dropped in to his winery on the Beaune périphérique. “It was a season we will remember," David Croix explained down in his barrel cellar. "Overall, it was another vintage of heat and light and drought. On average, 2018 was warmer from April to September, and Beaune was probably one of the driest appellations. Usually, we have 400mm [of rain] but we got just 200mm in 2020, other villages around 230mm. It was also very windy – every time we went to spray, we couldn’t do it properly – but fortunately it was dry and hot. The tricky part was the picking date, as the window was so short. The fruit was not phenolically mature by mid-August, so we picked August 24 to 31. I was amazed – I cannot compare it to another vintage – to get that much fruit and density, but so much tartaric to keep it so fresh. I wonder where these wines are going. The 2020s feel like they have just been pressed – they are evolving very slowly in barrel. It’s disquieting sometimes. It’s kind of an uncharted territory. When you look at the balance in the whites, you would expect something lusher and bigger, but they are lean and precise. Maybe they will need a bit longer in barrel. In the end, I really like the wines, but I’m not sure if everyone will enjoy them, as they might be too dark. I’m scared of global warming, though 2020 tells me that we can still make wine in warmer conditions." Croix is a winemaker par excellence and his talent shows through a portfolio with a clutch of very fine Beaune Premier Crus at its heart.