Maison Drouhin owns vines spread throughout Burgundy’s finest terroirs, from the Mâconnais and Côte Chalonnaise in the south to the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, to Chablis in the north. This is why we decided to reach out to Frédéric Drouhin to talk about the 2021 vintage. Two words: “seductive & unique”. This is how the man known as the ‘conductor’ of Maison Drouhin summed up 2021’s Burgundian wines. Frédéric takes us through the vintage and discusses its qualities.
An eventful year for Burgundian winegrowers
The growing year in 2021 was, to put it mildly, “peculiar”. Winter ended on a mild note, without any major cold spells. The occasional showers were a welcomed sight, as groundwater levels were low due to the lack of rainfall in recent months. The weather in March was quite fresh, before turning excessively warm at the beginning of April – much warmer than normal – giving the vines a boost and kick-starting leaf growth.
April frost
Early in April, the first leaves started to appear, and some buds had broken out of their protective coverings. At this time of year, grape growers have to hold out until May, and the infamous Saints de Glace – according to French gardening traditions, the last of a year’s frost appear around saints days, collectively known as ‘the ice saints’, in May with the final one falling on 13 May – could significantly impact vine development and yields. This would be a challenge given the conditions of recent years. Advection frost struck Burgundy during the night of 5 April (different from radiation frost), a phenomenon characterised by a moving mass of cold air below 0 ºC. It is worth pointing out that most of France was affected that year. Temperatures dropped from +5 °C to -7 °C in just a few hours from Chablis to Mâcon. At Maison Drouhin, we were on the warpath and pulled out all the stops to try to overcome it. Among other things, we placed candles in Clos des Mouches, Clos de Charlemagne and Clos Montrachet. I was out in the vineyard at the time, and while our efforts were ultimately ineffective, we can’t blame ourselves for having done everything we could. Some of our neighbours had set up heating hubs, while others used helicopters… In some parcels, the frost affected between 50% to 100% of the vines. For instance, we harvested 5 hl/ha in Clos des Mouches. To give an indication of the extent of the damage, the appellation authorities normally allow 48 hl/ha for the red premier crus and 55 hl/ha for the white premier crus.
And life resumed its course…
Growth resumed despite this grim episode. The vines that didn’t freeze continued to develop, while the ones that froze had to regrow, many of the wines produce actually come from this second growth. This meant we had two different rhythms to keep in mind as we worked in the vineyards. June brought fine weather, with plenty of light and breezy conditions, resulting in rapid flowering, followed by natural pollination of all the vines. Flowers bloomed in mid-June for the Chardonnays and on 18–20 June for the Côte de Nuits reds. August and September were relatively dry and bright months. The harvest eventually started on 17 September with a plot of Pinot Noir from Chorey-les-Beaune, and by 19 September we were harvesting in Montrachet.
“Small is beautiful!” – when quality outweighs quantity
Unsurprisingly, yields were extremely low, especially for white varieties, but quality was definitely excellent. As François Labet, Co-President of the BIVB (Burgundy wine trade association), put it with his statement “small is beautiful”, less is certainly more! The harvest was beautiful, and the balance between the sugar and acidity was good, so the key was to maintain this perfect harmony during the winemaking process.
Winemaking at Maison Drouhin
At Maison Drouhin, we like to harvest whole bunches to give the wine substance and allow it to age well. So we sorted the bunches drastically in the vineyard and then kept some 40% of the whole bunches (the stalks were beautiful in 2021) in our finest cuvées. We arrange the grapes in a millefeuille pattern in the vat (referring to the French thousand-layered vanilla slice cake), alternating layers of destemmed grapes and whole bunches. We then let them settle for a while before working with the red fruit purée-like substance obtained. To produce our whites, we press the grapes, allow the must to settle and put the wine in barrels. We really like long maturation periods at Drouhin, even for our white wines, which is why we keep them in barrels for 5 years. Native yeasts perform fermentation.
Vintage analysis: Charming, accessible young with delightful textures
Ultimately, the 2021 vintage is pretty classic and seductive. It offers beautifully fine-grained tannins and an extremely pleasant texture. These are wines that are easy to drink, with a lower alcohol content than in recent years. This means they can be enjoyed younger. If I had a 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022 in my cellar, I would enjoy drinking a 2021 right now! This vintage feels like a gentle caress on the palate, like the calm after the storm. Recently, I tasted a 2021 Grand Echézeaux. It has a multidimensional palate, fullness, harmony, density, floral and fruity notes – a highly seductive wine from the moment it was born in the vat to the present day. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to keep them as long as the 2020 or 2022 vintages. The thing is, they’re not available in large numbers… so just go for it!
A terroir-driven vintage
What’s also very exciting is that 2021 is truly representative of its terroir. The vintage characteristics fade in favour of the terroir, making it an ideal vintage for the Best Sommelier competition, as it showcases the essence of the plot. Each vineyard, from northern to southern Burgundy, and each appellation, remains very much in its rightful place.
Our warmest thanks to Mr Drouhin for this fascinating account.
