BOURGOGNE HAUTES-CÔTES DE NUITS 2020
BOURGOGNE HAUTES-CÔTES DE NUITS 2020
Grape variety
Tasting notes
Colour: A beautiful, strong golden colour.
Nose: Very expressive, almost exuberant and very seductive, with woody notes and hints of vanilla. A trace of honey, white flowers and citrus notes.
Palate: Delicate and perfumed, well-balanced and round. Its meatiness and woodiness come from the time spent maturing in oak casks; this also gives the wine better ageing qualities than many other white burgundies under the "village" appellation.
Wine and food pairing
Serving temperature
Ageing potential
History
Regional appellation of the Hautes Côtes vineyard district (dept. of Côte-d’Or). Officially recognised since 1961, this appellation covers 16 communes of the Hautes Côtes district in Burgundy, plus the more elevated areas of 4 communes in the Côte de Nuits.
At one time apparently doomed to disappear these vineyards have undergone a patient, courageous, and ultimately successful restoration. Overlooking the slopes of Gevrey-Chambertin and extending as far as the wood of Corton, the Hautes Côtes de Nuits have a wild beauty. Little villages nested in the forest fringes lie waiting to be discovered. The vineyards cover all these slopes which enjoy favourable exposures and proudly preserve their proof of nobility going back to Vergy and the abbey of Saint-Vivant.
The vineyards are located at heights of between 300 and 400 metres and occupy the sides of valleys which cut into the Jurassic limestone plateau to the west of the « Côte ». The underlying rock is the same as that of the Côte but the overburden is thin or non-existent. The soils are formed by a mixture of eroded limestone and marly subsoil.
Vinification and maturing
Vinification in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks followed by maturing in tank and in oak barrels for a part of the cuvée (40%) for 8 months, including 15% new oak. Blending and light filtration before bottling.
Vintage : 2020
"Never in my entire wine career have I seen such variations in the grapes than in the 2020 harvests" said Anne-Laure Hernette our winemaker.
It was an early vintage, with another very mild winter and therefore an early start to the growth cycle.
A rainy, cool May did not slow the vines down, and temperatures quickly rose again. The summer was one of the hottest we have experienced.
The vines reacted in very different ways depending on the sector and it was necessary to monitor the grapes’ phenolic maturity right up to the harvests, since in some cases the berries suffered significant water stress, resulting in delays in ripening and lower yields.
On the whole, the vines in Rully, Mercurey and Maranges held up well because several of our terroirs benefit from subterranean water sources which partially alleviated the stress.
But the fact remains that the expression of aromatic, phenolic and technological maturity was very different from previous years and the evolution of each parameter had to be closely monitored. Once again, the choice of harvest date was decisive in ensuring the quality of the future wines. Especially since there were sometimes significant differences in ripeness within the same plot.
Harvesting began on 24 August and ended on 16 September. Some sectors required patience: it was important not to harvest too quickly. The grapes were in an excellent state of health, but thorough sorting was necessary to separate berries that were still pink and yet side by side with ripe grapes.
Ultimately, yields were particularly reduced for the reds.
The character of the 2020 vintage will gradually be revealed as it undergoes barrel-ageing, but we can already appreciate it for its balance, promising colours, concentration and generous aromatic expression.
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