2021 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

Before broaching the wines, winemaker Mark Fincham, accompanied by Pascal Marchand, explains that there had been yet another very recent alteration in the name of the wines. In a region where name is critical to understanding what is in the bottle, I find this new change confusing after what I felt was finally a solution last year. They had no choice since authorities stipulated that the Domaine and Négociant wines would have to be made in separate wineries, which was logistically out of the question. So in 2021, the Domaine wines are listed as “Marchand-Tawse (Vignes de la Famille Tawse)” and négociant simply “Marchand Tawse”.

“We were affected by the frost,” Fincham tells me, “At the Domaine, we lost about 80% in the Côte de Beaune. Some examples: Volnay Fremiets 2 barrels in 2021 and 11 barrels in 2022; Savigny 1er Cru Les Vergelesses 4 barrels in 2021 compared to 15 barrels in 2022. One of the business drivers is our Bourgogne Chardonnay; we made zero. In the Côte de Nuits it was more nuanced, helped by later bud break. Here, we were between 30% to 50% down. In my view, it weakened the vines’ resistance, and we had more disease pressure, particularly mildew, after the very wet spring and early summer. There was a lot of disease pressure in the Côte de Nuits, especially in Morey-Saint-Denis. Estates like us, being organic, if you did not spray once a week, you could lose the crop. We started the picking on September 21 in the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits four days later, finishing on 28 September. In the end, we lost around 30-50% in the Côte de Nuits, but there are exceptions, though we lost 60% to 80% in the Côte de Beaune. I definitely lost another 10% here during sorting.”

Seeing this producer get due respect in recent years has been gratifying. They can kick the ball out of the park on occasion. That said, 2021 is a mixed bag that reflects the vagaries of the growing season, triumphs nestling alongside the odd expected disappointment. There are one or two cuvées where I feel the new oak impedes across the terroir expression – the vintage simply did not bestow sufficient fruit to support the wood. Other times, Marchand and Fincham produce some quite superb 2021s that I find difficult to resist imbibing.