2015 Auxey-Duresses Village
France
Auxey Duresses
Burgundy
Red
Pinot Noir
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“The 2016s show the black fruit of a hot year but with an unusual floral character,” said Romain Taupenot in November. “It’s impossible to make any generalizations about this vintage” In fact, due to frost and mildew, Taupenot started the harvest on September 29 with his premier crus, then picked village and regional wines and finished up with his grand cru. And significant millerandage contributed to the big differences in yields—and ripeness—between the various villages. Generally speaking, Marsannay was the most affected by the challenges of the 2016 growing season, while in Morey-Saint-Denis and Vosne-Romanée, the early-morning temperatures descended only to minus-one Centigrade (30 degrees F.). His vines in Gevrey-Chambertin were mostly unaffected by frost and mildew, and the larger crop in this village ripened more slowly. Overall, the estate’s production was down 45% from normal, but Taupenot noted that the lower crop, a good percentage of which consisted of the contra-bourgeons, could catch up in ripeness thanks to the warm conditions in July, August and September.
In the end, said Taupenot, seed ripeness and overall phenolic ripeness in 2016 were greater than in 2015. And as the fruit affected by mildew fell off the vines by early summer, almost no triage was necessary at harvest time, as in 2015 and again in 2017. Potential alcohol levels were in some cases slightly higher in ’16, though not as regular as in the previous year, and Taupenot did not chaptalize. “The yeasts also worked very efficiently in 2016,” he added.
Two thousand sixteen, Taupenot summarized, is about fruits and flowers. “The wines combine the volume and ripeness of the ‘15s but they’re less sweet and show better energy—like a cross of 2015 and 2014.” He believes that some 2016s will surpass their 2015 siblings in quality and longevity. Most of the wines had been moved into tanks and sulfited about a month before my November visit, and Taupenot planned to begin bottling them in January or February.
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Romain Taupenot started harvesting on September 8, bringing in his last parcel on the 14th. “The rocky grand cru parcels on shallow clay soil were the most stressed by drought,” he told me. But potential alcohol levels were quite high, ranging from 12.8% to almost 14%, with most of his fruit around 13.5%. He delayed spraying for powdery mildew during the hottest stretch in early July, taking a risk in order to prevent the sun from burning the leaves coated with the sulfur spray. “My main fear early on was about the level of acidity, but the wines have great aging potential,” he noted.
Taupenot did punchdowns during the cold soak, which lasted for seven to nine days at 8 degrees C., then once a day until the middle of the fermentation. He cut back on the number of pumpovers because the color came very easily. “The polyphenols were harder to extract in 2016, even if the seeds were riper than in ‘15,” he explained. Taupenot always destems his fruit, noting that he “shares the philosophy of Henri Jayer on this subject.” He added that 2005 was the only year when the entire clusters were ripe. That year featured even more ideal conditions than 2015, he told me, as temperatures were consistently in the 80s and there was no hydric stress.
Incidentally, yields here for the premier crus were around 40 hectoliters per hectare, which Taupenot says may explain why he was able to harvest a bit later yet maintain fresh, high-pitched aromas. And with a lot of millerandange, he went on, the grapes released sugar and acidity at the end of the fermentations. “The pHs, now between 3.45 and 3.65 for the grand crus, are pretty typical for us.” The malolactic fermentations mostly finished last spring and the wines had been racked into tanks about five weeks before my December visit.
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- By Author Name on Month Date, Year
Romain Taupenot started harvesting on September 8, bringing in his last parcel on the 14th. “The rocky grand cru parcels on shallow clay soil were the most stressed by drought,” he told me. But potential alcohol levels were quite high, ranging from 12.8% to almost 14%, with most of his fruit around 13.5%. He delayed spraying for powdery mildew during the hottest stretch in early July, taking a risk in order to prevent the sun from burning the leaves coated with the sulfur spray. “My main fear early on was about the level of acidity, but the wines have great aging potential,” he noted.
Taupenot did punchdowns during the cold soak, which lasted for seven to nine days at 8 degrees C., then once a day until the middle of the fermentation. He cut back on the number of pumpovers because the color came very easily. “The polyphenols were harder to extract in 2016, even if the seeds were riper than in ‘15,” he explained. Taupenot always destems his fruit, noting that he “shares the philosophy of Henri Jayer on this subject.” He added that 2005 was the only year when the entire clusters were ripe. That year featured even more ideal conditions than 2015, he told me, as temperatures were consistently in the 80s and there was no hydric stress.
Incidentally, yields here for the premier crus were around 40 hectoliters per hectare, which Taupenot says may explain why he was able to harvest a bit later yet maintain fresh, high-pitched aromas. And with a lot of millerandange, he went on, the grapes released sugar and acidity at the end of the fermentations. “The pHs, now between 3.45 and 3.65 for the grand crus, are pretty typical for us.” The malolactic fermentations mostly finished last spring and the wines had been racked into tanks about five weeks before my December visit.