About millésime 2019, by Yannick Champ

What comes to mind concerning this year's vintage... is that it is the first one without Henry. It was very challenging... emotionally challenging, for the entire crew. but we were even more motivated to do things well if possible... We really wanted this year's vintage to be a great one. The weather conditions helped because 2019 wasn't a wet year. There are advantages and disadvantages: the good thing is there was very little risk of disease, or very little risk, so it's true this year was easy in that way, no big worries. The main disadvantage being that in dry years there is much less juice. So we had 15% fewer grapes produced, meaning the harvest only lasted 6 days... and at this point the Domaine is made up of 16 hectares, For us to harvest 16 hectares in 6 days was a first. The main reasons being that there was a low yield of grapes, and what grapes there were, turned out to be healthy. So very little sorting was necessary. Not only that but the excellent weather conditions, conditions during the harvest were so good... the pickers actually ran along the rows. So we finished the harvest in six days. The inconvenience was the lack of fruit... but the worst surprise came when it was pressed. because given the size of the grapes, once pressed, there wasn't much juice... The grapes were so tiny. The result on average, it's difficult to be exact but... we probably had 30% less juice this year... but it was of an extremely high quality. So we are very satisfied with the results here at the Domaine. So this was a millerand grape year? (with small grapes)... Yes, it was a year with millerands. Effectively, there was a majority... Not the true millerands we look for in the Clos de Corvées... but grapes which were similar, quite small spheres with very little juice, but of an excellent maturity, very concentrated, which will give us very different wines from those of 2018. 2018 was a sunny year as well... but we didn't have heat waves in 2019, so the alcohol content is lower than 2018. In 2018 we had wines up to 15.5°... which is not the case in 2019 so they may taste fresher, but it's difficult to say now at the beginning of February... as the wines have only been in casks for 3 or 4 months. What we taste now is rather nice. but we still have another year and half of aging to do... What about for the newer plots? I'd say that all of our plots are fairly similar. It's rather rare. So an important factor. but they all had basically the same weather conditions... Often there are differences from one year to the next: for example in 2018 it hailed twice in Prémeaux... that's where we have 6 hectares of première cru Nuits St. Georges. Both Clos des Corvées and Clos des Argilières were also effected. So evidently the quantity and quality at harvest were quite different. For 2019 however... it was sunny everywhere, with no excess rainfall from one vineyard or village to another. So the conditions were the same. In appearance everything looked the same, with small grapes. So quite homogeneous and very high quality, Savigny was a bit different this year. In part because we pruned it rather short. As we only began working the plot in 2018, just last year... We had to cut the vines very short to regenerate the wood more, but this meant the yield was minimal for this year's vintage. Once again the drought had a high impact... with a small harvest. We know when we cut back the vines that for the following 2 or 3 years, sometimes more, that for a few years there's a renewal process required, for the vegetation... and so this leads to lower yields. The idea is to improve the quality in a few years. In 2019 we only managed one barrel of Savigny blanc... So minimal quantities, but its taste shows such enormous potential of excellence... for future vintages, with crops when we'll obtain higher yields, which will allow us to distribute this wine more widely... a possibility that is really exciting... Could you comment on the house and its construction? The work is moving forward well. We hope to have the building finished by the end of 2020. We began construction in November 2013... so that means it will be 7 years this November. It's been a real slice of life for the Domaine... and we are very happy with how it is turning out. The levels are being finished one after the other. I hope we can move into the offices this summer... and so be inside the building for the 2020 harvest... and have the use of the entire building by the end of the year. We'd love to host a beautiful inaugural event, a big party... with our customers, distributors, etc... all of the Domaine's friends... I hope at the end of the year...