2023 Bourgogne Rouge

The 2023 Bourgogne Pinot Noir was completely destemmed. It has a slightly rustic, earthy bouquet that doesn't quite possess the purity of its white counterpart. The palate is medium-bodied with soft tannins. It's quite fleshy but needs more grip and brightness on the finish. Heresztyn-Mazzini is an estate that I have visited regularly for a decade now. They might not be one of Gevrey's "superstars," but they have been producing excellent wine for several years. Underlying their success is a cluster of choice holdings, biodynamic vineyard husbandry and an attention to detail in the winery, where I find assiduous use of whole clusters. Their 2023s may well be the finest set of releases so far, perhaps better than the 2022s. "We did a green harvest in July for two weeks. There was a lot of rain that month, so we used silica when it was dry, which helped with the structure of the wine. I had never seen such a precocious vintage. Picking began on September 7 and the average yield was around 35 hl/ha."