2020 Musigny Grand Cru

“There are three important things with regard to the 2020 vintage,” winemaker Jérôme Flous told me after we met and I completely failed to recognize him (he just seemed younger than I remembered). “The first is the date of picking. For Faiveley, it is the earliest date ever, starting on August 19, which is earlier than 2003. It was very dry during the season, with less than half the usual rain. Between July 15 and August 15, there was only 5mm. The other important factor is the gap between red and white in terms of volume. The Chardonnay produced 80% more than the Pinot Noir, 45hl/ha compared to 25hl/ha, with the same growing season and same flowering. How? Well, on May 18, we had flowering in very good conditions, which corresponds to the Chardonnay, but on May 23, it was wet, rainy and windy. It was like winter, and this disturbed the flowering for the Pinot Noir. If you then factor in the dryness, that explains the difference.” Pushed to expand upon his view of the growing season, Flous told me: “I like the 2020 because each terroir is expressed. It has the rusticity of 2014 with the richness of 2019, though it is not as big as that vintage. The alcohol levels are around 13.2° and 13.5°, less than 2019 with more acidity. We didn’t have to do any acidification or chaptalization.” I thought this was a very respectable set of wines from Faiveley that may show a little more elegance than the 2019s.