Marsannay 2019
A recent appellation, Marsannay in the Côte de Nuits produces fantastic red wines as well as
a very significant production of white wines.
Origin
The vineyard of "The Golden Gate of the Côte de Nuits" covers the towns of Chenove, Marsannay-la-Côte and Couchey. This AOC is based on soils of great complexity of clay-limestone Middle Jurassic type.
The grapes of this cuvée come exclusively from the climate "La Bretignière" located in the town of Couchey a few hundred meters from the Fixin appellation. This small plot is located at the bottom of the hill with a full-east exposure and on a predominantly limestone soil.
There are traces of the name "La Bretignière" (from the old French Breton / Brecton = hawk) in the 1700s, it refers to the presence of a falconry where birds of prey were raised for hunting. It was attached to a manor house.
Viticulture
Grape variety: pinot noir
Soils: mostly limestone.
Orientation: East
Surface area under vine: 0.5947 ha
Pruning: Cordon de Royat system
Yield: 51 hL/ha
Average age of the vines: 45 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 20 September 2019.
The grapes were sorted a first time in the vineyard and a second time on the sorting table when they arrived at the winery.
At the winery: the grapes were 50% destemmed but not crushed (they were left whole) and were gravity-fed into tanks. Maceration with 50% whole bunches of 14 days including 4 days cold (12 ° C): Fermentation used indigenous yeasts only (no additives such as enzymes or tannins were used). Vinification without sulfur. 2 punchings of the cap.
Ageing
Maturation: aged on the lees for 16 months with no racking using a proportion of 30% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time for very delicate oaking.
Bottling
Bottling in March 2021, the wine was very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity.
Number of bottles: 4,057.
Vintage
A legendary vintages?
According to Grégory Patriat, this second harvest at the Ursulines winery will go down as a legendary vintage just like 1969, 1979, 1999, 2009, and 2019, because the concentration in the wines is very high indeed. Years with drought and low yields are always great vintages in Burgundy. We had some new premier crus come online last year, with three in Chambolle-Musigny, one in Gevrey-Chambertin, and one in Nuits-Saint-Georges; Le Clos des Argillères. Furthermore, we revived our tradition of producing white wines in villages better known for their reds, with a white Fixin.
Ageing potential: from 4 to 8 years.
Tasting notes
This Marsannay, with an intense ruby color, develops a bouquet of blueberries and strawberries, as well as some notes of sweet spices and subtly smoky notes. The palate is rich and powerful and reveals a salivating finish.
