Bouchard Aîné & Fils - 2020 vintage

Beaune - A very promising vintage

The harvests

Relatively poor yields for the reds, normal yields for the whites. Some appellations achieved excellent levels of optimal ripeness, with 50% of grapes harvested with the ‘vendange entière’ approach.
21st August: start of the harvest for the Côte Chalonnaise, more specifically, the Givry reds.
23rd August: first Chardonnays in the shape of the Beaune 1er cru Les Marconnets

Initial tastings

‘A very promising year for the whites with a fine balance between acidity and alcohol and intense white fruit aromas. Alcoholic fermentation in barrels lasted four weeks. Millerandage affected the reds leading to less juice but nice colour and distinct red berry aromas. With its generous tannins, this year looks set to be one to cellar. However, there are some small variations from terroir to terroir. Côte Chalonnaise reds are characterized by jammy notes while the Côte Beaune have good aromatic intensity and nice colour. The Côte de Nuits is giving us some lovely cuvées just now with summer fruit notes and wonderfully velvety tannins.’
LAURENT MAIRET