Hadrien Bissaud – Testing the 2023s

I think Hadrien Bissaud still qualify as a new name in Burgundy and he definitely has a talent that he is trying to form and develop. He comes from the insurance business so he has perhaps a more academic view of winemaking…

The link to the wine business nonetheless exists, as his family (back in the day) had an estate in Ladoix-Serrigny, with large vineyard holdings which they kept and rented out when the domaine was sold in the 1980s.

Currently, there’s not a strong link to the past. The future, however, will bring opportunities to take back some of the old vineyards from fermage.

Hadrien began his wine endeavour with the difficult 2021 vintage, then continued with the ample, generous 2022s. And now we are with the 2023 vintage … new endeavours and challenges.

Confining these few vintages – and few wines – to a single style has been quite a task for Hadrien Bissaud, but the three years have allowed him to demonstrate his talent and his ability to produce interesting wines.

I still struggle a bit to see the ONE future style although the Puligny-Montrachet seem to be a stable fix point in turmoiled waters. With 2024 being another difficult year I sadly don’t have many words of comfort … it will be a struggle,

The market (including the critics) should however allow all new vignerons the time to test, adapt, and use a few years to define their style. With the financial necessities of expensive vineyards, this is not always easy, but nevertheless it cannot be pushed. It took guys like Henri Jayer decades to find and optimise a style.

However, as a reviewer, it is complex and hard, as I often search for logic and stylistic consistency that has not yet been found.

This is the reason for the long production time on this article … as I needed to find form and expression… said bluntly I was in deep s…

Working as a critic or a recommender

Normally I write extensive reports on most of the wines I taste. However sometimes especially at in the late spring and summer, the wines are not really ready to taste.

I have therefore decided to leave the notes on the wines not ready to taste and do a check on them later. I would however like to say that the Vezelay and the Rully were showing very good promise …

I think this solution is most fair to the wines, the vigneron, the readers and even myself.

The Puligny

The Puligny strangely always seems to perform – here are the first impressions:

Hadrien Bissaud Puligny-Montrachet 2023

The Puligny comes from vineyards acquired with investors and presumably some very good local advisers. This seems to be an excellent acquisition, located in the village vineyard Les Meix, below Les Pucelles. A lively and energetic 2023, this shows plenty of vivacity. I tasted from a 500-litre new barrel this year … The big barrel really shows depth and some structure to the wine … it is quite a rich wine with the new oak, and I think the oak from Rousseau will strike a good balance with this oak,

(Drink from 2032) – Very Good – (90-91p) – Tasted 23/05/24 from cask –

Articles:

• Hadrien Bissaud – Testing the 2023s
  I think Hadrien Bissaud still qualify as a new name in Burgundy and he definitely has a talent that he is trying to form and develop. He comes from the insurance business so he has perhaps a more academic view of winemaking… The link to the wine business nonetheless exists, as his family (back in the ...