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Wine Description
The Story
The vineyards are managed biologically, and yields are strictly controlled through pruning, devigorating training techniques, and green harvesting. Harvesting is by hand, allowing immediate rejection of any unhealthy grapes.
The Aligoté is given a couple of hours maceration on the skins, before gentle pressing using a pneumatic press. Fermentations take place in both tank (66%) and large oak foudres (33%), with temperatures kept to a maximum of 20°C. Bottling takes place in April or May, once the malolactic fermentation is complete and the wine has settled.
The Chardonnays are immediately pressed and then vinified, two thirds in tank and one third in barrel. The temperatures in tank are pegged to those that naturally prevail in barrel (never much more than 20°C). The wines are bottled 8-10 months after the vintage. A good proportion of the barrels are renewed each year.
The reds are destemmed if appropriate - the decision depends on the particular characteristics of the vintage - and then chilled for a pre-fermentation maceration. This extracts good colour, round tannins, and aromatic fruit. Vinification is traditional, with daily 'pigeage', and temperatures are kept low to prolong the fermentation. Ageing takes place in large oak foudres as wel as in barrel (never brand new for fear of drowning the wine in oak). After 12-18 months, the wines are fined with egg whites and bottled unfiltered.
Vintage 2020
In Burgundy, the harvest is over for most farmers. It has been a year with a lot of heat both in July and August. A huge problem this year has been leaf-thinning and canopy management. Those who have not paid enough attention to the leaf-thinning experienced problems with sunburned grapes.
In Cote d’Or, it is especially the heat that has been tricky this season. First and foremost, some grapes have been burned by the sun resulting in raisins that the critical winegrower will not want in the cellar. Secondly, too much sun for a longer period caused stress among the vines and thus shut down the ripening. The result is grapes that look ripe but are still not ripe in taste. On the other hand, the most critical winegrowers report of really good grapes in the winery. Producers up north in Chablis are also reporting a satisfactory harvest.