Burgundy and tradition are strongly linked, but as in all other aspects of life, change eventually takes the stage.
At Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé, new winemaker Jean Lupatelli has now completed his second vintage, 2022, a large and lovely vintage at de Vogüé. The wines have recently been bottled, and I had the chance to taste them.
New winemaker = new ideas and outlook
Just to recap…
Jean Lupatelli came from Domaine Decelle-Villa in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and he brought with him plenty of experience and a strong background. But he’s now moved up to the major leagues, as de Vogüé is one of the old, legendary growers, alongside DRC and Rousseau – estates with long, prominent histories.
He changed the cases used for the harvest – smaller, 20-kilogram boxes – to ensure fewer damaged grapes reached the winery. This is important if whole-cluster vinification is going to be partly, or even fully, employed. Furthermore, the old mechanical pump used to fill the fermenting tanks with grapes has been replaced with a gentler elevator system. This gives purer, better-defined fruit, as the grapes arrive in the tank in better shape.
One of the most notable changes, however, is the use of whole clusters. All the reds now include 50% whole clusters, as opposed to the destemmed grapes used during the Francois Millet regime. Finally, the malolactic fermentation is no longer delayed and was done during the fall of 2022.
Serious changes, in other words.
The bottled 2022s
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