IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS

This is made from the oldest vineyards, from 30 parcels with no vines younger than 70 years old. This will spend 20 months in oak, 55 percent new. The wine is also held on its lees for the whole period, adding a plusher texture. Its spicy, succulent aroma, supported by an understated ferric infrastructure, is as good as many Premiers Crus. Drink 2021-2026.

It was very good to see a cellar full of 2017s and ’18s for the Burguet brothers, Eric and Jean-Luc, after the double tribulations of frost and mildew last year. Eric suggests that 2017 is not a year of complexity, but one of simple pleasure. The harvest began on 10th September (five days after Armand Rousseau, Eric noted) and the yields were generous, although their triple sorting of bunches, berries and whole berries did reduce the volume. All the wines will be bottled directly from barrel, without fining or filtration.