Discovering Domaine Chanson’s Beaune Premier Crus

With 25 hectares (ha) of premier cru vineyards in the Beaune appellation, Domaine Chanson (created in 1750) is one of the leading producers in this oft overlooked AP. In total, Chanson owns 45ha of premier and grand cru vineyards in the Côte de Beaune, ranging from vineyards in Corton in the north to Santenay in the south.

Domaine Chanson is centred around the formidable historical fortress, Le Bastion de l’Oratoire, which is built into the defensive walls of Beaune.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for eight Domaine Chanson wines

Originally commissioned by Louis XI and built between 1519-1524, the tower has walls up to eight metres thick and has been part of the Chanson operation since the French Revolution. Today, the four floors of the Bastion Chanson are designed for wine ageing – three floors for red and one for white wines.

Chanson was purchased by Bollinger in 1999, with substantial investment put in place to lift it from being an important and well-known négociant to a leading domaine.

The new winery in Savigny-lès-Beaune was completed in 2010 with gravity-fed systems and the installation, in 2015, of a very advanced cooling tunnel which allows longer pre-fermentation maceration. The domaine presented cask samples of the 2021 vintage at the tasting in London, together with a selection of bottled 2020s.

These two vintages could hardly be more different, with the 2021s exhibiting lift, delicacy and raciness, while the previous, warmer vintage showed wines with much more heft, depth of colour and more evident ripeness.

Chanson also showed a range of premier cru wines from earlier years, culminating with three vintages of Beaune Clos des Mouches red and one vintage of the Clos des Mouches white.

Vincent Wallays, export director for Chanson, led the tasting and enthused over the 2021 wines, also observing how different they were to the previous year’s vintage.

‘Yin and yang’ was how he described them, with the 2021s being lighter, precise and more elegant, whereas the 2022s were deeper in colour, with the wines showing dark fruit characters, plushness, and in some cases too much alcoholic power.

For the older years, wines were shown from 2019 to 2016, with most coming from the underrated 2017 vintage. The latter showed again that it punches above its weight in floral aromatic notes, together with vibrant red fruit flavours and bright, freshening acidity. These are wines that can be approached now but have the structure to age well for several years.

Chanson demonstrated the wealth of its Beaune premier cru holdings with Beaune Grèves, Clos des Fèves, Clos des Mouches and Clos des Marconnets all revealing differences.

Terroir, unsurprisingly, is championed here as much as elsewhere in the Côte d’Ôr. Clos des Marconnets is found close to the A6 motorway to the north of Beaune, with clay-rich soils on the mid-slopes. Here one could almost believe you were in the Côte de Nuits.

Clos de Fèves is located closer to Beaune and is a monopole for Chanson. With 4.12ha facing east- to southeast and lying on complex clay/limestone soils, the vineyard is solely planted to Pinot Noir.

Grèves is situated just above the town of Beaune, facing east with sandy soils on the mid-slope and clay lower down. A very fine premier cru, earlier ripening but full of ageing potential and class.

As a contrast, Clos des Mouches lies in the south of the greater Beaune appellation, abutting Pommard. This is a cooler exposition, with northerly winds more evident here. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are planted, with the latter on marly/limestone and sandy soils, while the Pinot is situated on the mid-slopes, on rocky limestone and clay soils.

Clos des Mouches does not refer to ‘flies’, but rather the old-French description of ‘mouche à miel’ – honey bees. The 2017 wines demonstrated the aromatic qualities of the vintage, with plenty of acidity and the tannic structure to encourage further ageing.

Clos des Mouches 2019 clearly emphasised the warmer characters from this ‘solar’ vintage, the wine displaying a winning combination of ripeness, bright acidity and ageing potential.

Vincent Wallays explained that Domaine Chanson’s aim was to express the terroir of each site, while allowing the character of each vintage to come through with as little influence as possible from the winemaking team.

The profound differences between 2020 and 2021 certainly demonstrate this ethos, and Chanson’s wines will be ones to keep a close eye on over the next few years.

See Andy Howard MW’s notes and scores for eight Domaine Chanson wines:

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