2016 Auxey-Duresses Village

Wine Details
Place of Origin

France

Auxey Duresses

Burgundy

Color

Red

Grape/Blend

Pinot Noir

Reviews & Tasting Notes

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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.