INTRODUCTION
With hindsight there was something a little surreal about the dinner we hosted with the Domaine at the National Gallery in February 2020. In the intimacy and warmth of the Rubens Room, there was perhaps a sense of particular stillness, of a moment in time that was, just a few weeks later, to be torn up by the plangent chaos and ugliness of lockdown…
How fitting, therefore, that Nature should have decided to take a very different path during the growing season of this, arguably the most beautiful of that fabulous trio – 2018, 2019 and 2020. Born in a timeless world of clear, luminous skies, empty roads, smokeless factories and where, as the Domaine’s vintage report commented, even the birds appeared to sing more loudly and the flowers offered a profusion of colours that seemed startling, 2020 may almost be seen as an Ode to Joy.
The wines share the opulence, power and density of 2018 and 2019 but their unique signature is a precision and startling freshness allied to an eery calm and authority – what Perrine Fenal called a Zen-like quality of being “undisturbed”. The Domaine’s 2020s are quite, quite beautiful.
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…
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Winter 2019-2020 was usefully wet and this “Winter water” was to prove significantly beneficial for the growing season which began with a very early budburst on 20th March, anticipating an equally precocious flowering, véraison (when the grapes change colour from green to red) and, of course, the harvest itself. March also offered some good rain which topped up the reserves of Winter and the legend of the wind that blows on Palm Sunday determining the prevailing wind of the season came, in 2020, from the North. Unlike the winds from the West and the South which usually bring rain, those from the North cleanse the vineyards of any incipient mildew and rot and almost invariably guarantee beautiful weather. And so it proved.
Mid-flowering was reached between 20th-23rd May in fine conditions, with the promise of an ideal proportion of very small, intensely sweet berries. There was also the possibility of a moderately generous crop at this time.
June and July remained hot and dry with that persistent North wind, to the extent that the Domaine felt that the vines were the most beautiful and healthy since 2015. Véraison began on 23rd July in the young vines and the end of July/beginning of August for the old vines. Intriguingly, this colour change was slower than expected and occasionally irregular as the heat caused blockage in some berries as if the vines were trying to conserve their energy for the leaf canopy. With prescience, the Domaine had, some two years earlier, heightened the training of this canopy to allow a maximum amount of leaf to protect the grapes from any excessive heat. 2020 was not as ferociously hot during August as 2019 – and had fewer “spikes” of heat as well – and conditions throughout the month saw the Grands Crus resilient and ripening beautifully, aided by their deep soils and old vines. Even here, however, there were admittedly rare instances of burnt berries which were to be removed later at harvest.
But now the decision was when to harvest, with the grapes maturing at extraordinary speed. As an example, Richebourg was at 11.7° potential alcohol on 10th August, 12.7° on the 14th and 13.2° on the 21st. The experience of the last 15-20 years and the extraordinary way in which the vines have adjusted to global warming over this period suggested a degree of patience, however, in order to harvest perfectly ripe but not overripe grapes. Consequently, it was with the young vines that harvesting began on 18th August with the older vines from the 23rd (see table) – exactly the same date as in 2003. Picking took place only between 7am and 1pm to preserve the freshness of this crop (and the pickers!) with only a brief halt from 29th-31st August due to light, nocturnal rainfall, received with some gratitude by the vines yet unpicked.
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The grapes were magnificent. Small, thick skinned, intense, sweet and perfectly healthy. On the sorting tables orchestrated by Chef de Cave (cellar master) Alexandre Bernier and with a team of 14, a final minute selection was made, excising any roasted or overlarge grapes before vinification, the whole amounting to some 1.5% of the crop. Yields were average, which was a pleasant surprise and a tribute to the Domaine’s viticultural practices during this extraordinary vintage.
Vinifications were effected with 90-100% whole bunch clusters, that is to say, without destemming and lasted 18-21 days under the supervision of Alexandre Bernier. Extractions were natural and unforced and the musts showed profound and deep ruby colours. The wines were put to cask in October 2020 with bottling dates as shown in the table on page 19.
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Alexandre Bernier (Chef de Cave)
The Domaine was perhaps expecting the opulently dense style of 2019 and these are unquestionably powerful wines, often reaching 13.5%, but they go further with a purity, precision and freshness that is astonishing – the whole allied to a sort of calm, an authority that makes one indeed wonder whether 2020 marks a new era for the Domaine and its finessing of the climactic movements of the last 20 years. Whatever, it is an awesome vintage.
My tasting notes are taken from one cask tasting in 2021 and the final tasting from bottle in November 2022. I hope they convey a little of the “soul” of this extraordinary vintage. The allocation process (page 14) was put together with your help and guidance and is therefore particularly relevant. As always, please speak to your individual salesperson for further assistance or to our Sales Team on 020 7265 2430.
February 2023
Nicolas Jacob (Chef de Culture)
ADAM BRETT-SMITH
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THE ALLOCATION PROCESS
We always aim to make our allocation process utterly transparent and fair. This is necessarily painstaking as each order is dealt with in minute detail – as it should be. We ask for your patience as we do this and, once again, thought it would be useful to set out the Domaine’s and, by extension, Corney & Barrow’s allocation criteria.
• The Domaine’s focus is on the private customer and as a consumer rather than a speculator.
• The Domaine’s wines are bought on the clear understanding that they will be stored and delivered in the UK only. Should you wish to sell the wines in the future, it is expected and understood that you please offer Corney & Barrow first refusal as this will ensure the integrity of secondary market distribution.
• Should customers wish to sell their allocation (or part of it) within three years of initial release, it can be fairly assumed that the wines were bought with speculation in mind rather than future drinking. This may very well impact the level of future allocations to those customers.
• Priority will be given to the Domaine’s and Corney & Barrow’s longstanding and best customers.
• We will do our best to accommodate newer customers. To help in this, we have a range of older vintages in stock to help begin a collection.
• May we please have your order by Friday 17th February.
• Allocations will be completed by Monday 27th February.
• Confirmation of order will be through receipt of invoice and the wines will be delivered or put into your reserve upon payment and once the wines have arrived in the UK. All orders are conditional upon UK storage only. We keep for the Domaine’s benefit a record of bottle numberings to help you in this.
• May we please request that invoices are paid in full by Tuesday 28th March. In all fairness, we reserve the right to reallocate your order to other customers on the waiting list if payment is not received by this time.
• Do please speak to our sales team, who will be delighted to help you further.
Provenance
Once again we continue to bang the drum on provenance and I can do no better than quote the Domaine’s own words: “We would like to take this opportunity to insist on something important that concerns all wine lovers –trade or private customers – it is imperative that, without absolute certainty as to the authenticity and origin of the bottles they are offered, they buy wines only through our official distributor or from the merchant and wine shop that the distributor has appointed. This is the only way to secure the guarantee of integrity, authenticity and proper storage of our wines!” Enough said!
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TASTING NOTES
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VOSNE-ROMANÉE 1ER CRU CUVÉE DUVAULT-BLOCHET
Made only very rarely and in exceptional years, this, alas is reserved only for On-Trade (hotels, restaurants) and is an amalgam of mostly La Tâche and the young vines of Grands Échézeaux. It is named after the celebrated ancestor of the de Villaine family. Deep ruby, almost opaque in colour. Extraordinary piercing nose of dark, primary, arterially bright fruit bursting with energy. This is rich on the palate, with full, silky, succulent flavours, with a dry but delectably well-coated core. Sweet and creamily long on the finish. Lovely wine.
This wine will be offered to the On-Trade once in bottle.
Corney & Barrow Score 18
Recommended drinking from 2025 - 2033
CORTON
This, the 12th vintage since the Domaine acquired an extended lease from the Prince de Mérode family, is composed of arguably the finest three plots on the hill of Corton – Clos du Roi (0.57 hectares), Bressandes (1.2 hectares) and Les Renardes (0.5 hectares) and was picked in the second week of September. Deepest ruby in colour, this has a dark, spicily perfumed nose, with an almost cocktailed purity. On the palate, the fruit is piercingly rich but with that delectable kick of Corton dryness to balance. There is real “attack” and concentration in the flavours, but with a density and power that are in almost perfect balance. A beautiful Corton.
Corney & Barrow Score 18+
Recommended drinking from 2026 - 2035
£1,185/Case of 3 bottles, in bond UK
£800/Case of 1 magnum, in bond UK
ÉCHÉZEAUX
Last year I thought the 2019 Échézeaux seemed like a slightly younger brother of Richebourg, a relationship that appears to continue in 2020. This is a brilliant Échézeaux, opaque ruby in colour (intriguingly, it is often deeper than Grands Échézeaux) and with tightly wound intensity of deepest red fruit, both expressive and powerfully latent. This fruit is silken however, with a sweet but clenched quality, chewy but round tannins, beautifully extracted and bursting with life and freshness. For all that, it nevertheless seems weirdly at ease and in perfect balance. “Utterly lovely” I scribbled in the margin.
Corney & Barrow Score 18++
Recommended drinking from 2026 - 2036
£1,455/Case of 3 bottles, in bond UK
£980/Case of 1 magnum, in bond UK
GRANDS ÉCHÉZEAUX
One of the first of the Domaine’s vineyards to be picked (25th August) this is, as almost always, more reserved than Échézeaux on the nose, with a sense of muted profundity and fathomlessly dark fruit. By complete contrast, it is sweet, even creamy, on the palate, less Grands Échézeaux than is immediately apparent perhaps. There is dry power here, flavours juicily rich and full, and an almost toffeed finish of great length.
Corney & Barrow Score 18
Recommended drinking from 2027 - 2037
£2,190/Case of 3 bottles, in bond UK £1,470/Case of 1 magnum, in bond UK
RICHEBOURG
As in 2019, this was the first great growth to be harvested (23rd / 24th August). I frequently refer to this Cru as the Porthos of the Three Musketeers – all swagger and slashed velvet – but there is a fabulously disciplined quality to its 2020. Deepest ruby colour. The nose offers a latent, meaty richness (“so restrained but so Richebourg”, I wrote in the margin) with a sense of barely contained bright, bursting red fruit allied to a startlingly fresh, spicy perfume. The palate, by contrast, is seductive, full, plumply rich, with an utterly relaxed power and structure and effortless length. This is a rather noble Richebourg that transcends itself.
Corney & Barrow Score 18.5
Recommended drinking from 2027 - 2038
£3,480/Case of 3 bottles, in bond UK
£2,330/Case of 1 magnum, in bond UK
ROMANÉE-SAINT-VIVANT
There is sometimes an almost feline, aérien quality to this Great Cru. In 2020 it wears the vintage lightly but does so with a joyous relish from its opaque ruby colour to a nose that is crystalline and lacy with a sense of curve and plumpness to the bright, utterly vinous and deep red, red fruit. The palate has a silken density, with profound but ripe tannins, sweetly degraded (in the best sense) flavours, but the whole lifted by a taut freshness and huge length. It is almost as if Romanée-St-Vivant is startled by its own beauty.
Corney & Barrow Score 18.5
Recommended drinking from 2027 - 2036
£3,540/Case of 3 bottles, in bond UK
£2,370/Case of 1 magnum, in bond UK
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LA TÂCHE
Harvested over three days (30th August, 2nd and 3rd September) this is a beautiful La Tâche that rivals, perhaps surpasses, the glorious 2018. Opaque, deepest ruby colour that coated the glass as it was swirled. The nose is extraordinary, arterially vinous, spicy, cedary-rich with an almost root-like meaty density of perfume. The palate is lush and supple with a seemingly casual power and profundity. This is a supremely lithe La Tâche, aristocratically calm and authoritative but with rich vinous layered flavours, perfect balance and fabulous length. What a glorious wine.
Corney & Barrow Score 19 - 20
Recommended drinking from 2028 - 2040+
£4,035/Case of 3 bottles, in bond UK
£1,345/Case of 1 bottle, in bond UK
£2,700/Case of 1 magnum, in bond UK
ROMANÉE-CONTI
Fractionally paler in colour than La Tâche and a wonderfully insinuating interpretation of the vintage as if, and as so often, it gently gathers the greatest qualities of the other crus and then finesses them all. Or perhaps not quite all? Does it, at this early stage, offer the transparent majesty of La Tâche? Probably, but the qualities here, again as so often the case, are latent rather than overt. Here the nose is intricate, subtle, with the perfume of old, old vine fruit, rich but muted, savoury, atmospheric. The palate offers layers of delicately but profoundly extracted fruit, intricate, pure, delectably fresh and a calm (that word again), perfect balance and length. An Ode to Joy indeed, Lovely, lovely wine.
Corney & Barrow Score 19 - 20
Recommended drinking from 2028 - 2045+
£3,870/Case of 1 bottle, in bond UK
CORTON-CHARLEMAGNE
This is the second vintage of the Domaine’s CortonCharlemagne, born of a very small (2.9) hectare plot leased from Domaine Bonneau du Martray, and lying in the two finest locations of Le Charlemagne (AloxeCorton) and En Charlemagne (Pernand-Vergelesses). This surpasses the 2019, itself a great wine, and was the last of the Domaine’s vineyards to be harvested on 7th, 8th and 9th September. Golden-white in colour. The nose is lushly fruited, creamy, almost buttery but with that telltale hint of stony minerality. The palate is both succulent and supremely fresh, full-flavoured, powerful but restrained and with a delectable kick of refined austerity and minerality to balance the weight superbly. A beautiful Corton-Charlemagne.
Corney & Barrow Score 19
Recommended drinking from 2026 - 2036
£2,355/Case of 3 bottles, in bond UK
£785/Case of 1 bottle, in bond UK
£1,580/Case of 1 magnum, in bond UK
MONTRACHET
Rather like the 2019, this 2020 appears, once again, to wear the vintage effortlessly, as if the combination of relatively cool nights and profoundly old vines (60+ years) finessed the frequently torrid conditions of the growing season. Tasted immediately after the Corton-Charlemagne and with that hallmark golden yellow colour, the nose appeared more muted, richly perfumed for sure but with a floral elegance and intensity to the perfume, with a yearning, almost atmospheric quality. The palate is lithe, both dense and elegant, with layered, golden flavours, but with a fresh balance and beautiful length. A grand wine that you will be able to drink immediately and in 25 years’ time…
Corney & Barrow Score 19
Recommended drinking from 2025 - 2042+
£2,250/Case of 1 bottle, in bond UK
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© Michel-Barthélémy Ollivier, 1766. Deer Hunt at The Chateau de L'Isle-Adam. Fête donnée par le Prince Louis François de Conti en l'honneur de Charles Guillaume Ferdinand, prince héréditaire de Brunswick-Lunebourg en 1766 : Le cerf pris dans l'eau devant le château de L'Isle-Adam
Bertrand de Villaine and Perrine Fenal, Co-Directors
