2021 Beaune 1er Cru Boucherottes

Tank sample ready for bottling 13 January. Hand-harvested, chilled overnight and sorted. 5% of the harvest was destemmed and placed at the bottom of a wooden vat, the rest of the clusters were put on top for a spontaneous fermentation without SO 2 . Fermentation finished in tank. The wine spent 15 months in a mix of 300- to 500-litre barrels aged between one and four years (no new wood) and two 220-litre glass WineGlobes (a bit like demijohns). Racked out of barrel under inert gas pressure, settled for two weeks in tank before being bottled under a Diam 10 closure without fining or filtration. 2,100 bottles. Only this wine was chaptalised in 2021 but purely to extend the maceration to keep the yeast alive as the ferment went to dry ‘rosé’ in 5 days. Very slightly darker in colour than the Savigny and slightly darker-fruited. Elegant, fine-boned. A little more peppery, more savoury on the finish, not quite as long as the Savigny but has real refinement. (JH)