2021 Bourgogne Rouge

“It’s easy. 2020+2021=2022 in quantity,” Pascal Mugneret tells me, putting forward a simple mathematical equation to ram home the depleted volumes, though he did mention that he produced 15% more in 2022 than average. “We lost 50% of the crop because of frost. In Gevrey-Chambertin, everything had botrytis, oïdium and mildew. It was only small amounts, but it was everywhere. So, to have something clean, after starting the picking [on 18 September], 30 workers spent three and a half hours picking 0.27 hectares in Gevrey, which means each person cut less than 100 vines! There was a delay between analytic and phenolic maturity, so you had to wait. I used 70% to 80% stems in the blend – whole clusters bring more width, and I like the vegetal nuance if the fruit is sufficiently ripe.” This is a commendable set of wines crowned by an atypically sumptuous Nuits Saint-Georges La Richemone and a quite brilliant Vosne-Romanée Aux Brûlées. We exchange views on using whole bunches as he is interested in my thoughts. I must say that in some of the entry-level wines, I might have dialed them down a few percentages because they threaten to obscure the terroir; they are better assimilated with Mugneret’s more prestigious cuvées.