Wines
Vintage is a key reference to assess the quality of a wine. Each vintage is unique. It is the memory of the climate and of the major events during the year for a winemaker. With the appellation and the Domaine, the vintage helps to estimate the ageing potential and to foresee the best drinking date.
Some of the great vintages of the 20th and 21th century: 1906, 1908, 1919, 1923, 1928, 1929, 1934, 1937, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1955, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016…
Place des Grands Crus is full of rare vintages and offers a large selection going from 1906 to the most recent vintages, coming from private cellars or directly from the Domaines.
1959
1959 is an exceptional vintage in Burgundy! We hadn’t had so much sun since the end of the Second War. Thanks to short repeated rains in September which gave to the vineyard all it needed after a hot and dry summer. The harvest was excellent. The red wines have a great complexity and a beautiful length on the palate. The white wines, rarer, offer a silky texture that mixes the aromas of praline, honey and crème brûlée.
1961
One of the proofs that the difficult climatic conditions can give an excellent vintage. In fact, coulure and millerandage made small and compact grapes, of beautiful quality. The vineyard was able to fight a dry and hot summer. If the wine was austere at the beginning, it has masterfully balanced itself with time. Some well-known producers such as Bernard Clair consider this vintage as the finest they had to vinify. A great reference !
1971
A great vintage, which was a reference for all the winegrowers, even though the quantity was not there. The rain and hail were intense, compromising the harvest on some plots, especially in Côte-de-Beaune. However, the grapes had a remarkable concentration, guaranteeing a great maturity, but requiring patience! The 1971 wines did not open until the 90’s, and today they are still predicting an apogee that will last a long time. A refined velvet, generous flavors, mixing stewed fruits and a touch of coffee bean, here is the signature of this vintage.
1976
1976 is a good vintage which could have been exceptional! An intense drought from July to September has limited the yield and gave an important concentration to the grapes. In the 90s, the wines were still too tannic. They open with time, have powerful aromas, fruit and velvet. But they lack a little ethereal elegance that we except from a great vintage. It is made for ageing which requires patience to reach the plénitude.
1978
According to Henri Jayer, this vintage was the best of the century, even if it started very badly. A cold year, a late maturity, and a bad start of summer could have deprived us of this sensational result. And yet, if at the end of August, nobody seemed to believe in this harvest, an extraordinary September and an exceptional October made the panache of the vintage! 10 hours of sunshine a day and a north wind during the late season brought in a low quantity harvest, but gave a “very beautiful texture, very tender, but with a lot of flesh and tremendous power tannic, “said Henri Jayer. It is said of 1978, brilliant today, that it is ready to live another century !
1990
Another very exceptional vintage, marked by a long spring, favoring coulure and lack of ripening. A hot and dry summer, rains in August arriving at the right time and a sunny month of September allowed to obtain a harvest in perfect conditions. The concentration of the wine is remarkable; long on the palate, very well balanced, most probably going toward a long ageing.
The beautiful balance, however, allows the less patient to enjoy their exquisite flesh right now! 1990 is “the great vintage of pleasure”! In white, this vintage is a little less complex than 1989; but white wines are notoriously racy, bold, charming.
