![\"Gevrey](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/gevrey-chambertin-600-1.jpg\")
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The weather turned ugly. Or at least, had a poor night\u2019s sleep and didn\u2019t put on any makeup. The piercing blue sky turned the colour of iron and the low temperature (which hovered somewhere between freezing and 4 degrees) became very evident without the warmth of the sun.<\/p>\n
![\"Domaine](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Philippe-Huguenot-1.jpg\")
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Fortunately, our first visit was to Huguenot, who has a large enough collection of terroirs to warm any cold soul. Able to trace their history amongst the vines back to 1789, Huguenot is anything but stuck in the past \u2013 a recent conversion to organics (which was broken in 2016 due to the challenging conditions, a good illustration of how easy it is to bypass this classification on a label, but how difficult it is to achieve in marginal climates) and a brand-new, tech heavy winery have shown how future-focused this domaine is.<\/p>\n
The wines have always been very well-made expressions of their respective terroirs, but this year had that much extra concentration and energy. In the past, although never abundant, we are usually able to circle back to Huguenot and buy back vintages, but this year were told by Philippe that 2019 was all sold out and 2020 was fully on allocation. A sign of both the times and the development of this quality-conscious domaine.<\/p>\n
![\"Domaine](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Thierry-and-Lise-Mortet.jpg\")
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Thierry Mortet was our next stop, not far down the road in Gevrey. With just four hectares of vines, inherited when his father Charles split the domaine between Thierry and his (perhaps more famous) brother Denis Mortet. Unlike Denis, Thierry has no Grand Cru, and as a result, the price of his wine has remained incredibly affordable. His daughter, having just finished her studies in viticulture, joined him for the first time this year \u2013 whilst not yet a handover, it will be interesting to see how the influence of the next generation comes in.<\/p>\n
Thierry is still making very pure, very classic Gevrey and small amounts of Chambolle, often more in vibrancy than lush fruit (and the 2020s are no exception) and even the village wines are capable to aging ten years.<\/p>\n
![\"St\u00e9phane](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Stephane-Magnien.jpg\")
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The weather thankfully became a bit more chipper as we headed to St\u00e9phane Magnien, reflective perhaps of St\u00e9phane\u2019s beaming smile and friendly demeanour. This is also a micro-domaine, just 4.5 hectares, but is blessed with two Grands Crus and an incredible number of old vines, some which will soon see their 120th birthday. St\u00e9phane told us that he very much liked the quality of the vintage, but that he had made 40% less than normal. Given the concentration he decided to use no new wood at all – perhaps not that huge a move given that he has only ever used 20% on the Grands Crus. Whether it was the tiny yield or just the 2020 fruit, it was like he had sprinkled some magic into the wine.<\/p>\n
The sheer energy, lift and concentration that makes top Burgundy the most exciting wine in the world was definitely here. There were all levels of haunting aromas exhibited, including rose petal, peony, cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, moving down to dark cherry. It\u2019s not often that I ended a tasting note with \u2018profound\u2019, but I did for his old vine Clos Saint Denis, which is right in the centre of the original 3.3 hectares of this Grand Cru, prior to its expansion to 6.6 hectares.<\/p>\n