2020 Burgundy En Primeur

Fabien Joannet says the 2020 vintage was atypical - it was easy and early, but a small quantity. It represents a continuation of the recent vintages - 2018 and 2019. The fresh notes of 19 are present, but with the warm aromas of 18. The harvest was in August and very early, resulting in small, very concentrated berries due to the dry weather.

Boursot explained that 2020 has an amazing dark purple colour and is fresh & fruity because it was harvested early. There used to be ban des vendanges which indicated the exact dates when you could harvest grapes, however this recently changed and the harvesting window is just based on the sugar levels in the grapes. Boursot used 30% whole bunch and 70% completely destemmed in 2020 (2021 will be 100% destemmed as the stems etc were not ripe enough) and vinification finished at the start of September.

Louis from Virgile Lignier-Michelot said that 2020 was an early vintage with small but very concentrated berries. 2020 has similar alcohol levels to 2019 and they are a fascinating pair of vintages, but 2020 is more tannic.

Allen Meadows (Burghound.com):
An atypical, but great vintage that was super-precocious, hot and exceptionally dry yet produced fresh, elegant and concentrated wines.

The highlights of the 2020 growing season are easily summarized: it began exceptionally early due to essentially having no winter but rather an extended fall. It was also incredibly dry because other than a likely vintage-saving moderately wet February, there was almost no rain thereafter, through to the mid to late-August harvest. There was very little disease pressure and few dramatic climatic incidences, such as, frost, hail or flooding. 

Their moderately firm tannic spines coupled with good acid levels provide the framework to allow the wines to be highly energetic, wonderfully refreshing and delineated. While the days were hot, the nights were reasonably cool. This significant diurnal difference helped preserve acidities.

Deeply coloured, very ripe, exceptionally rich yet exuberantly fresh and intense. Impressively concentrated, and wines of generally excellent quality

The concentrating effects of the heat, drought and wind served to reduce the pHs and thus the wines are surprisingly vibrant, even racy. Happily, the best wines are definitely ripe but with a tantalizing freshness and underlying tension that makes the palate impression particularly inviting.

They should age gracefully over a probable 20+ year window. In short, they certainly do not lack development potential.

Please use the following links to find tasting notes and information about each producer

                 Domaine Joannet                                        Maison Boursot Père & Fils        

                 Maison Virgile Lignier-Michelot                           Agnes et Didier Dauvissat