Bourgogne Chardonnay
Les Ursulines 2020
Origin
This ‘vast’ appellation brings together four great regions; Yonne to the north, with its fresh, mineral wines, followed by the Côte d’Or, with its rounder, deeper whites, the Côte Chalonnaise with its pleasant wines, and lastly the Mâcon region to the south, with a range of styles varying with the individual soil and exposure.
For this 2020 vintage, we have favored a supply in Yonne to bring freshness!
Viticulture
Grape variety: Chardonnay
Soils: clay-limestone
Orientation: mostly southeast / south
Average age of the vines: 25-45 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: from 4 to 17 September 2020.
The grapes were handpicked and collected in 20-kg perforated crates.
At the winery: The whole bunches of grapes were gently pressed for 2½ hours. The temperature of the must was brought down to 12°C then was immediately transferred to barrels with no settling to preserve a maximum of lees. Very long fermentation using indigenous yeasts.
Ageing
Maturation: aged for 7 months with no racking or stirring to bring out all of this wine’s minerality. A proportion of 10% new gently toasted French oak barrels were used for very delicate oaking.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time to impart a subtle, delicate touch of oak were used.
Bottling
Bottling: in May 2021.
Vintage
Balanced and concentrated
The harvests happened back-to-front! They began with the reds ripening before the whites. The harvest was very disease-free but we had to eliminate sunburnt berries, especially in the case of the Pinot Noir vines as the Chardonnays had coped better with the heat. Quality was definitely good, but relatively low juice yields has resulted in Pinot Noirs with high colour and aromatic intensity. On the other hand, the Chardonnay vines produced adequate yields with a good balance of sugar and acidity. This optimal ripeness enabled us to harvest the red grapes in certain plots according to the ‘vendange entière’ approach, where stalks are fermented along with the grapes.
'Lots of lovely colour in the reds, with very high polyphenol content, firm tannins and excellent levels of acidity. Looks set to be a year with great cellaring potential. Summer fruit coulis notes definitely have the upper hand in this year’s vintage! The whites are nicely-balanced, but it’s too early to be more precise. Watch this space…’ Grégory Patriat.
Ageing potential: from 3 to 5 years.
Awards
Revue des Vins de France - Numéro exceptionnel 1400 grands vins de France à moins de 20€ - 87 / 100
Tasting notes
With a pretty pale yellow color, this wine reveals aromas of yellow and white fruits with some notes of white flowers. On the palate, a nice freshness emerges for this sunny vintage with a nice smoothness.
