Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Les Ursulines 2020
The beating heart of the Maison Jean-Claude Boisset is Les Ursulines, and this wine is the quintessential expression of the winery, and is both an initiation into Burgundy and a great wine in its own right.
Origin
Pinot Noir is invariably associated with Burgundy and indeed, it is here that this varietal finds the conditions most conducive to its development... Pinot Noir owes its fame to its native terroir in Burgundy, where it is the only grape used for practically all of the production of red wines. Furthermore, the region’s soils and temperate climate suit this varietal perfectly as it is not fond of hot, humid weather. The Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune produce what are without doubt the greatest Pinot Noir wines in the world.
For this sunny vintage, we have incorporated a supply from Yonne area into our blend to bring freshness!
Viticulture
Grape variety: Pinot Noir
Soils: clay-limestone.
Orientation: multiple.
Pruning: Guyot system
Yield: 55 hL/ha
Average age of the vines: 35-40 years old.
Vinification
Harvest date: From 29 August to 10 September 2020.
Handpicked. The grapes were sorted a first time in the vineyard and a second time on the sorting table when they arrived at the winery.
At the winery: the grapes were completely destemmed but not crushed and were gravity-fed into tanks. Total maceration of about twenty days. Extraction by various punching down and gentle pumping over.
Ageing
Maturation: aged on the lees for 7 months with no racking using a proportion of 10% new French oak barrels.
Barrels: French oak barrels that had been toasted at low temperatures for a long time for very delicate oaking.
Bottling
Bottling: in June 2021.
Vintage
Balanced and concentrated
The harvests happened back-to-front! They began with the reds ripening before the whites. The harvest was very disease-free but we had to eliminate sunburnt berries, especially in the case of the Pinot Noir vines as the Chardonnays had coped better with the heat. Quality was definitely good, but relatively low juice yields has resulted in Pinot Noirs with high colour and aromatic intensity. On the other hand, the Chardonnay vines produced adequate yields with a good balance of sugar and acidity. This optimal ripeness enabled us to harvest the red grapes in certain plots according to the ‘vendange entière’ approach, where stalks are fermented along with the grapes.
'Lots of lovely colour in the reds, with very high polyphenol content, firm tannins and excellent levels of acidity. Looks set to be a year with great cellaring potential. Summer fruit coulis notes definitely have the upper hand in this year’s vintage! The whites are nicely-balanced, but it’s too early to be more precise. Watch this space…’ Grégory Patriat.
Ageing potential: from 3 to 5 years.
Tasting notes
With a very intense dark red color, this wine develops aromas of very gourmet red fruits including sour cherry or blackberry, as well as some peppery notes. The palate is powerful with, however, a very nice freshness, the tannins are silky.
