CHÂTEAU DE LA TOUR & DOMAINE PIERRE LABET, 2021 VINTAGE EN PRIMEUR

CHÂTEAU DE LA TOUR & DOMAINE PIERRE LABET

The 2021 frosts dealt a mixed hand to the two Labet family estates. Whilst the Clos Vougeot’s Château de la Tour lost ‘only’ around a third of the crop, in the more southerly Domaine Pierre Labet holdings, it was nearly 90%.

CHÂTEAU DE LA TOUR & DOMAINE PIERRE LABET

Château de la Tour, established in 1890, was passed down from François Labet’s mother’s family and is the largest proprietor of the Clos Vougeot. Domaine Pierre Labet, whose origins date from 15th century Beaune, was founded in its current form by François’ father.

The unifying winemaking approach involves a high proportion of whole-bunch vinification of Pinot Noir, relatively early picking of Chardonnay and long élevage in barrel at Château de la Tour, one of only three buildings in the Clos Vougeot.

On a fine October morning, Ida Weatherall and I tasted through the 2021s with Édouard Labet, from barrel, in the atmospheric cellars beneath Château de la Tour. I love this type of parcel approach to tasting, as it allows you to build up an idea of the different plots, with their various soil types, aspects and vine ages.

Our tasting underscored that we are dealing with powerful terroir in the Clos, but perhaps more surprising is how the Labets’ deft blending and sensitive use of whole cluster vinification serve to temper this natural potency, rendering it elegant. The 2021s are among the most refined Clos Vougeots I can remember tasting here.

Away from his family domaines, François Labet has been president of the Vins de Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) since 2015 and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur in 2019 for nearly 40 years of service to Burgundy.

Édouard, son of François Labet is now a key team member, in the vines, the cellar, and increasingly as a face of the domaine. The highly regarded Sylvain Pataille is the family’s longstanding consultant winemaker.

Corney & Barrow is exclusive agent for both Château de la Tour and Domaine Pierre Labet in the United Kingdom and Singapore.

GUY SEDDON HEAD OF FINE WINE BUYING April 2023

THE 2021 VINTAGE, IN THE WORDS OF ÉDOUARD LABET

Another year is over, a new one just begun, and with it the ambition to continue to produce great wines, to persevere in the path of excellence, in the respect of tradition and of our terroirs that we cherish so much, with an eye turned towards the future and the challenges that lie ahead.

May this new year also bring the hope of more clement weather, in contrast to this extraordinary and particularly abnormal 2021 vintage on which it is time for us to take stock and share our thoughts with you.

The season’s vineyard work, which ended amid difficult climatic conditions, did not leave us any respite. The vineyard experienced unprecedented disease pressure (never before seen, according to the ‘old-timers’), in particular mildew and powdery mildew. We warmly thank our team and salute the devotion, the will, and the mutual aid of everyone here at the domaine, which allowed us to contain these difficulties.

Furthermore, we were in our third year of conversion to organic viticulture and are now certified for the 2021 vintage. We have the satisfaction of seeing that our methods of working the vines, which were put in place more than 20 years ago, have been recognised. Our biodynamic approach, started in 2015, is also making sense and we continue to learn, step by step, and to improve.

The stand-out occurrence of 2021 was obviously the April frost, and particularly that dark week following Easter, where temperatures dropped heavily and frost invaded.

The Tuesday night was certainly the most perilous: a cold blizzard from the north and a snowstorm paralysed the vineyards and, despite our efforts and the few [anti-frost] candles we had placed in the most sensitive plots of the Côte de Beaune, we were witnessing a moment that we knew was going to leave its mark. The Côte, then ablaze and invaded by a thick smoke [from the hay bales burnt in an effort to minimise frost damage], was like a ‘war scene’... both terrible and magnificent.

Harvest started on 25th September. The great satisfaction of this vintage lies in its typically Burgundian DNA, which we are pleased to find. However, the crop was strongly impacted: 10% of the usual volume in the Côte de Beaune whites and 15% in the reds. As for our vines in the Clos Vougeot, we were able to limit the losses to produce 70% of a ‘normal’ yield.

Our philosophy remains the same: work with indigenous yeasts, vinification without sulphur or additives. The wines, still currently ageing in barrels, show the more classical and traditional Burgundy style that we like so much: the wines are fresh yet precise, with a lovely energy. After the ‘solar’ and silky 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages, 2021 truly stands out and will please our taste buds.

“While the planet experienced the hottest month of July ever recorded, it seems that France was left on the sidelines.”

ÉDOUARD LABET, JANUARY 2022

CHÂTEAU DE LA TOUR

Established in 1890, Château de la Tour is the largest proprietor of the Clos Vougeot. Its 5.5 hectares equates to 11% of the appellation.

The domaine is owned by François Labet and his aunt Nicole Déchelette. The majority of the vines are grouped in two parcels close to the château building, with another smaller holding higher on the slope, bordering Échézeaux. This has been recently replanted, using massal selection as always here.

The vines have an average age of nearly 70 years, with a one hectare plot planted in 1910 at their heart. The domaine has been organic since 1992. Yields are controlled by rubbing out every second bud, which gives a well aerated canopy and which François and chef de culture Cyril Beutot prefer to green harvesting.

Grape sorting with secateurs takes place once the grapes arrive from the vineyards, with whole bunches loaded into the fermentation vats and then cooled to around 6°C for a week. Fermentation starts spontaneously, following which a maximum temperature of 29°C is maintained.

Once fermentation ends, the wine is racked off immediately into barrel to avoid any astringency in these most robust of Pinot Noirs. Around 50% new oak is used for the Cuvée Classique and Vieilles Vignes.

Father and son: François and Édouard Labet

THE WINES

CLOS-VOUGEOT GRAND CRU, CUVÉE CLASSIQUE

The Cuvée Classique comes from mainly old vines in the upper sections of the Clos Vougeot. We tasted the 2021 plot-by-plot in October 2022 and it saw how the heavier clay soils resulted in a correspondingly dense and powerful style, with wonderfully expressive red berry fruit across the board.

Serene aromas of raspberry and rose petals – the elegant side of the Clos, so often overlooked... The refined, medium-bodied palate offers raspberry and wild strawberry framed by fine, gently grippy tannins. A great success of the vintage, in which the 50% whole bunch fermentation is rendered as classy exotic spices. 50% new oak.

Corney & Barrow Score 18

Recommended drinking from 2027 – 2040

£1,145/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK

£1,155/CASE OF 3 MAGNUMS, IN BOND UK

Tasting Guide

Our tasting notes provide full details but, at your request, we have also introduced a clear and simple marking system. We hope these guidelines assist you in your selection. For the benefit of simplicity, wines are scored out of 20. We will often use a range of scores (e.g. 16.5 to 17) to indicate the potential to achieve a higher mark. When a ‘+’ is shown it adds further to that potential. Wines from lesser vintages will, inevitably, show a lower overall score.

Wines are judged, in a very broad sense, against their peers. Why? Well, you cannot easily compare a Ford with an Aston Martin, other than they are both cars and have wheels. It is not that different with wine. A score is a summary only. The devil is in the detail, so please focus on the tasting notes and, as always, speak to our sales team.

CLOS-VOUGEOT GRAND CRU, VIEILLES VIGNES

There is no Hommage à Jean Morin this year, for the first time since 2014 and only the third time since its debut in 2010. Let me therefore point out the obvious, that this year’s VV cuvée contains some top quality raw materials – notably, the first bunches on the oldest vines, usually reserved for the Hommage. This is a selection from the domaine’s two main parcels, including the 1910 plot at its heart.

Bitter cherry and kirsch, with inky-dark concentration and sensitively extracted tannins. This remains upbeat and approachable, despite its prodigious presence and stature. Just over half whole bunch fermentation, which has resulted in beautifully integrated spices and a sappy cohesiveness to the finish. 50% new oak.

Corney & Barrow Score 18.5

Recommended drinking from 2030 – 2043

£1,775/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK

£1,785/CASE OF 3 MAGNUMS, IN BOND UK

Being relatively new to the team at C&B, it was a real pleasure to taste these wines for the first time, including some from the similarly accessible 2017 vintage. From which, and maybe somewhat surprisingly, the Clos-Vougeot Grand Cru Cuvée Classique was drinking extremely well already. Tasted last month, it has a heady nose of wild strawberries and white pepper spice, leading on to a bright and focused mid palate. The tannins are fine and delicate and there's a pleasing crunch to the fruit on the finish. These 2017s give real pleasure now, even at such an early stage in their development.

LUC BOUET, FINE WINE BUYING ASSISTANT March 2023

DOMAINE PIERRE LABET

Domaine Pierre Labet dates from 15th century Beaune, when the domaine buildings lay on the city ramparts.

600 years later, François Labet’s grandfather was mayor of Beaune between the two world wars. During this period, the holdings began to be expanded. Now, the domaine owns 10 hectares of vineyards in Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Chorey-lès-Beaune, Meursault and Gevrey-Chambertin.

Given the geographical distance between Domaine Pierre Labet’s holdings, François and Édouard have an operational hub in Beaune, a seven-person vineyard team and two permanent cellar hands, with another two during vinification. The wines are made at Château de la Tour.

François started making wine in 1984, in the 1987 vintage changing from 100% destemming to 100% whole bunch handling. His approach at the time was, “you either do it or you don’t”, although nowadays varying proportions of whole clusters are used, depending on the vintage.

No sulphur dioxide is used at harvest, François choosing to protect the grapes using carbon dioxide (dry ice) at the top of the vats. Reds are given a short pre-fermentation maceration. There is no racking after malolactic fermentation. The wines are left to settle in vat after pressing.

Unfortunately, there are no white wines in this year’s offer, due to the very small volumes produced in 2021 – 600 bottles of Meursault in place of the usual 6,000, for example.

The whites (when there are any…) are given brief periods of lees contact following fermentation, with no bâtonnage (lees stirring) and then a light fining, whereas there is none for the reds. None of the wines are filtered. The domaine is certified organic, as of the 2021 vintage.

THE WINES

BOURGOGNE ROUGE

François and Édouard’s Bourgogne Rouge is all about the lush Pinot fruit and delicate exotic spice from its whole bunch vinification. It comes from three different plots in Chorey-lès-Beaune, which has more clay than on the Côte. Exotic spices and very fine, sappy cohesiveness. This is a beguiling Bourgogne Rouge, with bright raspberry fruit and pretty aromatics from the 40% whole-bunch fermentation. 40% new oak – a little more than usual –lends a pleasing roundness and texture.

Corney & Barrow Score 17

Recommended drinking from 2024 – 2028

£240/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK

BEAUNE ROUGE

This is a blend of Dessus des Marconnets, 1er Cru Coucherias and 1er Cru Monseignières, all of which are usually vinified separately. Minty, herbal aromas from the 45% whole bunch fermentation. The palate is sinewy and sappy, finely poised, the cool raspberry fruit coming to a long, driving point on the finish. 40% new oak.

Corney & Barrow Score 17 - 17.5

Recommended drinking from 2025 – 2030

£325/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK

GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN VIEILLES VIGNES

Vieilles vignes here denotes well over 60 years of age. The domaine’s Gevrey village is made from three lieuxdits, which are co-vinified: La Justice (north-east), Les Crais (south-east) and La Jouise (south-west, just below Mazy-Chambertin), totaling just 0.6 hectares. Highly expressive whole bunch spices, with menthol lift and bright raspberry-fruited brightness. 35% new oak, with 45% whole-bunch fermentation.

Corney & Barrow Score 17.5+

Recommended drinking from 2026 – 2036

£395/CASE OF 6 BOTTLES, IN BOND UK

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