2020 Whites: A View of Greatness

In recent weeks I have gotten a better grip on the 2020 vintage of white Burgundies, and let me be direct: They have impressed me considerably. Now, after a few weeks of tasting Domaine Leflaive, Domaine Roulot, Benjamin Leroux, and Domaine Matrot, I’m convinced that the 2020s are amongst the best whites I’ve ever sampled.

Recent decades

Ranking white Burgundies is not an easy task, as premox has been a significant factor in the results from 1995 to 2013 (see below). Somehow one needs to compensate for this.

Some domaines feel the 2019 whites are better than the ’20s, and while the 2019s are very good, I feel the 2020s are better, my palate having been informed by tastings such as those mentioned above.

The vintage does, however, have its rivals: 2014 is a strong competitor, the 2017s should not be overlooked, and the 2010s (despite their premox and botrytis issues) can also be in with a shout.

The bottom line, however, is that the effortless lightness of the best 2020s makes them hedonistically refined, despite their considerable intensity. They (some) are more refined and delicate than many 2014s, although some ’20s are a bit frisky alcohol-wise.

Tasting the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne indicated that this is a vintage of both intensity and the ultimate in delicate refinement. In my book (and glass), nothing beats refinement, although I understand and appreciate that the Montrachet vineyard can have huge sensual appeal in the 2019 vintage.

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