2020 Vintage - First impressions

Overall, the growing year was reasonably easy with an early start to the vegetation, which gave us some scares with the risk of frost, however well controlled because anticipated. There was no disease. The summer was hot and dry with patchy, but welcome, rain, depending on the area. The first grapes entered veraison in the first half of July, which is very early. Overall, the bunches were small, concentrated in juice, with sometimes visible signs of drought, especially on young vines or on draining soils.

Harvest started on the 20th of August in Côte d'Or and in Chablis and the Mâconnais and Châlonnais on the 31st of August. There was little sorting to do as the harvest was healthy and ripe. It should be noted, however, that the whites were generally harvested after the reds because they matured more slowly. We favoured very gentle vinification routes with, for the reds, a high proportion of whole cluster and, for the whites, work on the excellent quality lees this year. The style of the wines for the whites shows a nice balance of alcohol and acidity and a fairly precise aromatic profile. For the reds, they are all coloured, concentrated and dense, with varying alcoholic degrees depending on the sector. The phenolic maturity is excellent, and the volumes are rather low.

Frédéric DROUHIN

November 3rd 2020