Marsannay 2020
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: 28 hL/ha
Average age of the vines: 46 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: 2 September 2020.
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 17 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 10 months with no racking using a proportion of 42% 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 August 2021, the wine was very gently filtered before being bottled using gravity.
Number of bottles: 2,197.
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 7 to 12 years.
Awards
Bourgogne Aujourd'hui Magazine - 16 / 20
Tasting notes
With a beautiful brilliant dark red color, this wine exhales intense aromas of violets, blackcurrant and some licorice notes. The palate is rich with a nice tannic structure and reveals a beautiful aromatic persistence.
