2020 Beaune du Chateau 1er Cru Rouge

The company is lucky enough to draw on 10 ha of Beaune premier cru white-wine vineyards for this wine and they vinify all climats separately and then blend. 20% new oak. 'A good introduction to BP&F Beaune', was how head winemaker Frédéric Weber described it. Some may find the trace of sweet oak a turn-off but I think that would be crazy. By the time this wine is ready to drink it will surely have dissipated. Creamy texture and a smooth, fine-boned wine without any excess of alcohol. Neat and well judged even if not exactly concentrated. But obviously lower acidity than the William Fèvre Chablis 2020s I have just been tasting. Decent, medium length. (JR)

Yields of merely 20 hectoliters per hectare have delivered a 2020 Beaune 1er Cru du Château of unusual presence and concentration, wafting from the glass with aromas of cherries, sweet berries, rose petals and spices. Medium to full-bodied, ample and velvety, it's deep and layered, with lively acids and powdery tannins. Readers who have walked Beaune's hillsides and know the extent of Bouchard's holdings will realize how much prime terroir goes into this remarkably accessible bottling.

The 2020 Beaune du Château 1er Cru has a lively bouquet with brambly red berry fruit, wild mint, just a light garrigues-like scent. The palate is smooth and pliant with fine acidity, quite mineral-driven with touches of citrus peel and black pepper furnishing the harmonious finish. Very suave.