Best Burgundy 2020 premier cru wines
In his Burgundy 2020 en primeur report, Charles Curtis MW concludes that across both red and white wines, 2020 is certainly a vintage worth buying. Here he highlights some of the top-scoring premier cru wines worth seeking out.
‘The unique conditions – economic as well as meteorological – of 2020 mean it is an exceptional Burgundy vintage,’ said Charles in his Burgundy 2020 en primeur vintage report.
Yet he found himself questioning whether the wines from the 2020 vintage truly reflect what most consumers perceive to be a Burgundian style.
Scroll down for Charles Curtis MW’s top-scoring Burgundy 2020 premier cru wines
Burgundy 2020 en primeur: Full report plus top-scoring wines
See further analysis and top-scoring wines of the following areas:
Côte de Beaune | Côte de Nuits | Mâconnais | Côte Chalonnaise
Morey-St-Denis | Meursault | Gevrey-Chambertin | Chambolle-Musigny | Pommard and Volnay | Vosne-Romanée
Even though it is the grand cru wines that tend to score the highest, Charles noted that the premiers crus from the highest reaches of Puligny, Chassagne and Meursault, such as Puligny Champ Gain, Chassagne La Romanée or Meursault Blagny, offered excellent quality.
In the first year that Pouilly-Fuissé could label its premier cru wines, the wines fared particularly well: ‘It is gratifying that the first year to see wines labelled as premier cru was so successful,’ said Charles.
Looking at Morey-St-Denis, Charles encourages readers to seek out the wines from Premiers Crus Chaffots and Monts Luisants.
‘In Puligny-Montrachet, look for the Premiers Crus La Truffière, Caillerets, Folatières and Champ Gain, while in Chassagne, the Les Chaumées and La Grand Montagne were particularly good,’ he said.
In Gevrey-Chambertin it was a good year for Premier Crus Cazetiers, Clos St-Jacques, Lavaux St-Jacques and Aux Combottes, while in Chambolle-Musigny Charles finds excellent quality in the Premiers Crus Les Fuées, Les Cras and La Combe d’Orveau.
Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St-Georges were showing strongly in the following premiers crus: Beaux Monts, Aux Brûlées, Les Petits Monts and Malconsorts in Vosne, and Damodes, Chaignots and Les St-Georges in Nuits.
Below is a list of the top-scoring premier cru wines from Charles’ Burgundy 2020 en primeur report.
See Charles Curtis MW’s top-scoring Burgundy 2020 premier cru wines:
Related content:
Burgundy 2020 en primeur: Full report plus top-scoring wines
Top 2020 Côte Mâconnais en primeur wines
Top 2020 Côte de Nuits en primeur wines
Domaine Georges Roumier, Chambolle-Musigny, 1er Cru Les Amoureuses, Burgundy, France, 2020
One expects a rich wine, with a profusion of floral and red fruit aromas, and Roumier certainly delivers. 'The surprise of the vintage is the...
2020
Domaine Georges RoumierChambolle-Musigny
Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Meursault, 1er Cru Genevrières, Burgundy, France, 2020
Almost ethereal, impressively complex and long, showing a real presence in the spicy aromas and ripe orchard fruit. In the end, it is the elegance...
2020
Domaine des Comtes LafonMeursault
Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Meursault, 1er Cru Perrieres, Burgundy, France, 2020
Profuse aromas of ripe apple, marzipan, acacia flowers and smoke, with a suggestion of butter and cream. The texture on the palate is dense, long...
2020
Domaine des Comtes LafonMeursault
Domaine Paul Pillot, Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru La Romanée, Burgundy, France, 2020
A monumental wine. Great concentration and purity, featuring aromas of lemon peel, pear and gooseberry, touched with mineral and smoke. There is a perfect...
2020
Domaine Paul PillotChassagne-Montrachet
Domaine Paul Pillot, Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru Les Grandes Ruchottes, Burgundy, France, 2020
With its ripe apple citrus fruit and hints of beeswax, marzipan and smoke, this is an elegant wine with great finesse. However, it is not...
2020
Domaine Paul PillotChassagne-Montrachet
Domaine Roulot, Meursault, 1er Cru Perrieres, Burgundy, France, 2020
This is assuredly the grand cru of Meursault in all but name. The wine is spicy and rich, with a complex nose that combines lemon...
2020
Domaine RoulotMeursault
Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Volnay, 1er Cru Santenots-du-Milieu, Burgundy, France, 2020
A monumental wine, with super-ripe black cherry and currant fruit accented with rose petals, liquorice, smoke and minerals. Dense and full-bodied in texture, yet vibrantly...
2020
Domaine des Comtes LafonVolnay
Domaine Michel Lafarge, Volnay, 1er Cru Clos du Château des Ducs, Burgundy, France, 2020
Surpassingly elegant mulberry and black cherry fruit, with notes of spice, smoke and a saline mineral firmness. Lovely concentration and plenty of tannic grip, yet...
2020
Domaine Michel LafargeVolnay
Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair, Nuits-St-Georges, 1er Cru Les St-Georges, Burgundy, France, 2020
A spectacular result, with dark fruit showing a firm, pronounced mineral and earthy note. There is impressive intensity here, lots of tannic grip and extract,...
2020
Domaine Thibault Liger-BelairNuits-St-Georges
Domaine Michel Niellon, Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru Clos de la Truffière Les Chaumées, Burgundy, France, 2020
Complex nose of lime peel, green apple, mineral and flint. The texture is intensely fresh, but there is a marvellous old-vine richness as well that...
2020
Domaine Michel NiellonChassagne-Montrachet
Domaine Paul Pillot, Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru La Grande Montagne, Burgundy, France, 2020
Both sections of Grande Montagne are among the highest elevation premier crus in Chassagne. The altitude means the wines are almost more Puligny in style,...
2020
Domaine Paul PillotChassagne-Montrachet
Domaine Roulot, Meursault, 1er Cru Clos des Bouchères, Burgundy, France, 2020
As with neighbouring Gouttes d'Or, the Clos de Bouchères - a 1.37ha monopole acquired in 2011 - is a precocious, early-ripening site, picked earlier in...
2020
Domaine RoulotMeursault
Albert Bichot, Domaine du Clos Frantin, Vosne-Romanée, 1er Cru Malconsorts, Burgundy, France, 2020
The wine shows a pronounced aroma of ripe black cherry and floral notes the winemaker describes as peony, mingled with notes of mineral, spice and...
2020
Albert BichotVosne-Romanée
Benjamin Leroux, Pommard, 1er Cru Rugiens, Burgundy, France, 2020
After his years at Comte Armand, Leroux is something of an expert on Pommard, and this Rugiens does not disappoint. This is from Rugiens Haut,...
2020
Benjamin LerouxPommard
Domaine Comte Armand, Pommard, 1er Cru Clos des Épeneaux, Burgundy, France, 2020
The final blend of this is superb, including both the energy of the young vines and the density of the old. They deliver a lush,...
2020
Domaine Comte ArmandPommard
Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé, Chambolle-Musigny, 1er Cru Les Amoureuses, Burgundy, France, 2020
This is, to my taste, every bit as complex as the Bonnes-Mares, but completely different in character. This is less structured and almost imposing, showing...
2020
Domaine Comte Georges de VogüéChambolle-Musigny
Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé, Chambolle-Musigny, 1er Cru, Burgundy, France, 2020
This 2020 is extraordinarily good, with a bright, youthful cherry exuberance that almost sings in the glass. The texture is a silky delight that in...
2020
Domaine Comte Georges de VogüéChambolle-Musigny
Domaine de Montille, Cuvée Christiane, Vosne-Romanée, 1er Cru Malconsorts, Burgundy, France, 2020
A bright, fresh nose with copious red and black fruit aromas underlined by accents of earth and smoke, with a pleasant hint of violets and...
2020
Domaine de MontilleVosne-Romanée
Domaine de Montille, Pommard, 1er Cru Rugiens, Burgundy, France, 2020
This is a superb wine, among the best of the appellation, with a pronounced plummy fruit touched with aromas of smoke, spice and floral notes,...
2020
Domaine de MontillePommard
Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, Nuits-St-Georges, 1er Cru Cras, Burgundy, France, 2020
Lush, plummy fruit scented with spice, smoke, floral notes and a silky texture that reveals, with time, plenty of density and grip. Marvellous. This...
2020
Domaine du Comte Liger-BelairNuits-St-Georges
Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, Vosne-Romanée, 1er Cru Reignots, Burgundy, France, 2020
Lying just up the slope from his iconic monopole of La Romanée are 0.73ha of vines in Aux Reignots. The grapes are mostly destemmed and...
2020
Domaine du Comte Liger-BelairVosne-Romanée
Domaine Dujac, Morey-St-Denis, 1er Cru Clos des Monts Luisants, Burgundy, France, 2020
This wine is not what you'd expect from such a hot and dry year, yet the concentration of the grapes concentrated the acidity, too, and...
2020
Domaine DujacMorey-St-Denis
Domaine Dujac, Vosne-Romanée, 1er Cru Malconsorts, Burgundy, France, 2020
A dense, almost creamy, concentrated cassis fruit, adorned with notes of smoke, spice and salt. Focused, with plenty of tannin and extract, this is a...
2020
Domaine DujacVosne-Romanée
Domaine Georges Roumier, Chambolle-Musigny, 1er Cru Combottes, Burgundy, France, 2020
In 2020, half of the grapes were fermented as whole clusters to give this wine a supple, rich plum fruit touched with liquorice, spice and...
2020
Domaine Georges RoumierChambolle-Musigny
Domaine Georges Roumier, Chambolle-Musigny, 1er Cru Les Cras, Burgundy, France, 2020
A lovely, bright raspberry and mulberry fruit, touched with mineral and floral notes edged with saline. The wine is extremely expressive, with a bright acidity...
2020
Domaine Georges RoumierChambolle-Musigny
Domaine Georges Roumier, Morey-St-Denis, 1er Cru Clos de la Bussière, Burgundy, France, 2020
Roumier's Clos de la Bussière remains one of the best values in Burgundy. The red and black berry fruit character is charming, with hints of...
2020
Domaine Georges RoumierMorey-St-Denis
Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat, Vosne-Romanée, 1er Cru Malconsorts, Burgundy, France, 2020
The wine is inky dark, with profuse aromas of ripe black cherry and plum fruit, supported by a complex array of aromas from rose petals...
2020
Domaine Hudelot-NoëllatVosne-Romanée
Domaine Jean Grivot, Vosne-Romanée, 1er Cru Reignots, Burgundy, France, 2020
Charming and elegant, with a silky black cherry fruit and lovely freshness on the palate. This tiny 0.07ha plot, planted in 1954, yields a single...
2020
Domaine Jean GrivotVosne-Romanée
Domaine Joannès Violot-Guillemard, Pommard, 1er Cru Clos de Derrière-St-Jean, Burgundy, France, 2020
Exquisitely silky, with a lush, spicy black fruit character that is immediately approachable – quite the opposite of the standard conception of Pommard. Marvellous. This...
2020
Domaine Joannès Violot-GuillemardPommard
Domaine Trapet Père & Fils, Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Aux Combottes, Burgundy, France, 2020
An enchanting result, with a lilting raspberry and blackberry fruit, showing notes of peony, violet, ginger and an almost salty minerality. The texture is silky...
2020
Domaine Trapet Père & FilsGevrey-Chambertin