2023 Vosne Romanee Champs Perdrix

The 2023 Vosne-Romanée Aux Champs Perdrix includes 100% whole bunches. The stems are neatly integrated on the nose, just lending the brambly red fruit more freshness and subtle pepperiness. A touch of wild mint lingers in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins, lovely poise and composure. Frankly, this is in a completely different class to the preceding Chambolle-Musigny Village. Bright and energetic on the finish, this is a well-crafted Vosne-Romanée, just like the 2022. "The 2023 vintage was great," Sylvie Poillot says, beaming. "Of course, we did a green harvest in June, continuing into July for some parcels, as there were too many grapes. I noticed nine bunches per vine in Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice, also Savigny-lès-Beaune, so we cut it to four per vine. August was cool. We started picking on August 30 and finished September 28, starting with the whites and finishing with the Evocelles in Gevrey. It was a long harvest, as we wanted to wait for ripening, stopping for two days when there was rain on September 19 and 20. The yield is 53 hl/ha for the whites and 43 hl/ha for the reds. There was no chaptalization. The highest alcohol was in Charmes-Chambertin at 13.5%, but around 12.5% average for the reds." "We are now doing a shorter élevage. We use five different coopers: Damy and Chassin for the whites, with the reds in Rousseau, Mercurey and François Frères. We receive the wood in June with medium toasting, a mixture of 228, 350 and 450- liter barrels. No more than 20% new oak is used across the range. Bottling was in December instead of April (since 2021). Also, we are now bottling using Trescases instead of Amorim. There will be new cuvées in 2024: 0.40-hectares in Mazoyères- Chambertin, land farmed by Arnaud Mortet that has now been acquired."