Château de Marsannay: a taste of the 2017s

In an online tasting, hosted by Giles Burke-Gaffney of UK importer Justerini & Brooks, Château de Marsannay winemaker Sylvain Pabion showcased five wines from the 2017 vintage, ranging across quality levels from Bourgogne Pinot Noir to Premier Cru Gevrey-Chambertin.

It proved to be a good opportunity to assess how the 2017 vintage is drinking now.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for five Château de Marsannay wines

Putting 2017 in context: an overview of the 2021 vintage

A ‘difficult and exhausting’ vintage, according to Sylvain Pabion, 2021 saw hard frosts hit Burgundy in April, affecting the Côte de Beaune more than the Côte de Nuits.

Rain in June, July and early August also complicated matters for the Château as, due to their organic status, the only treatment available was copper. This was carried out 15 times, up to seven days before the harvest. Mildew and oidium were additional threats, but the onset of fine, sunny weather in September boosted grape quality. Despite this, certain cuvées required chaptalisation of 0.5°.

Yields were low at just at 20hl/ha, delivering concentrated wines with good aromatics, although the tannins are not particularly powerful, resulting in very approachable wines.

Tasting the 2017s

In comparison, Pabion describes 2017 as ‘a very classical but interesting vintage’, with good balance and much better acidity than 2016. Yields were also higher than 2016, at 37hl/ha.

Decanter reported that 2017 was ‘a large vintage of mostly good quality wines, both red and white’.

Marsannay, Chambolle-Musigny, parts of Nuits-St-Georges, Meursault and Chassagne-Montrachet were especially prone to high yields, due to the previous year’s severe frosts – one of the worst frosts Burgundy has ever seen.

The following wines from Château de Marsannay’s range were tasted and are currently available in the UK from Justerini & Brooks:

• En Montre-Cul, Bourgogne, 2017
• Clos de Jeu, Marsannay, 2017
• Clos du Roy, Marsannay, 2017
• Gevrey-Chambertin, 2017
• Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champeaux, 2017

About Château de Marsannay

The estate was established in 1990 by André Boisseaux, a Burgundy wine merchant and founder of Kriter sparkling wine. He purchased a large number of vines in Marsannay in the 1990s but after his death, his family decided to sell the estate. It was purchased by Olivier Halley, alongside the aquisition of Château de Meursault, in 2012. Halley now owns 28ha in Marsannay, together with a further 12ha in other parts of the Côte de Nuits.

Across the 40ha, 45 different cuvées are produced, with the most prestigious wines being a Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru and a Chambertin Grand Cru.

Despite extensive vineyard holdings and a large range of wines, Pabion describes Château de Marsannay as ‘still a work in progress’.

A key objective for the Château going forward is to work on the soils to increase organic life. ‘To achieve this, the priorities are planting large numbers of trees, retaining grass cover and encouraging biodiversity’, said Pabion.

He believes there are other advantages to this: ‘improving our soils is a way of keeping freshness [in the wines] and counteracting the recent hotter vintages’.

The estate achieved organic certification in 2022 and there has been significant investment in the cellars as well as the vineyard.

Advocating Marsannay

Marsannay is the most northerly appellation in the Côte de Nuits and the only Burgundian commune that allows red, white and rosé production.

Pabion is an enthusiastic ambassador for Marsannay. At the start of the 19th century, the vineyards in this appellation were all planted with Gamay (although prior to this, Pinot Noir was the dominant variety). In the past 30 years major replanting of Pinot Noir has taken place.

The soils are from the middle-Jurassic period and are similar to those in Fixin and Gevrey-Chambertin, as is the resulting wine style.

Pabion explained that there are now close to 300ha planted in Marsannay.

There are three key sectors: Chenôve in the north (containing top climat Clos du Roy); Marsannay-la-Côte (with leading climats Les Longeroies and Les Grasses Têtes); and Couchey (with climat Champs Perdrix) in the south.

He is adamant that a number of premiers crus will be confirmed in the next three or four years.

Pabion sets out to make wines with no reduction, no hint of brettanomyces, minimal lees contact, no filtration and lovely precision and purity. This tasting has proved that these are certainly wines to seek out.

See Andy Howard MW’s tasting notes and scores for five Château de Marsannay wines:

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