Top Côte Chalonnaise 2020 en primeur wines

By every measure, the Côte Chalonnaise was the region most affected by water stress, heatwave and sunburn in 2020.

The region was consistently two weeks or more in advance of the norm. The midpoint of budbreak was in March, of flowering, in May, and of veraison in July.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of Charles’ top-scoring Côte Chalonnaise 2020 wines

According to Jean-Baptiste Bordeaux-Montrieux, proprietor of venerable Givry estate Domaine Baron Thénard, this was the earliest harvest on record – they started picking on the 18th of August.

The Côte Chalonnaise was even further along than their neighbours to the south in the Mâconnais.

The sugars accumulated (and the malic acid fell) most rapidly here, as one might surmise.

See the score table listing Charles’ top Côte Chalonnaise 2020 wines all scoring 95 points or above

See all 650 Burgundy 2020 tasting notes and scores

The overall effect on the white wines

The effect of the heat was perhaps least traumatic for the Aligoté in Bouzeron. While this variety ripens early, it has high natural acidity, and while the wines were rich and dense, they were still in balance.

Chardonnay has lower overall acidity levels and was thus more severely impacted in the Côte Chalonnaise.

This tendency to heaviness was most evident for me in the appellations Montagny and Montagny Premier Cru in the southern section of the Côte Chalonnaise, while some of the wines from Rully were more attractive. Most of the Chardonnays I tasted were lush, ripe wines for early consumption.

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See further analysis and top-scoring wines of the following areas:

Côte de Beaune | Côte de Nuits | Mâconnais

The overall effect on the red wines

Although the thin-skinned Pinot Noir was at relatively high risk of sunburn and raisining, those producers who sorted for these conditions had the potential to make top quality wines in a dark-coloured, tannic mould.

While many of these are hardly typical of either Pinot Noir or Burgundy, there were notable successes in Mercurey and Givry.

My top-scoring wine from the region was the Mercurey Les Montots from Domaine A. & P. de Villaine.

The best of these wines have an almost freakishly deep colour, but they also have the density and tannic grip to age, and enough acidity to provide balance.

The Côte Chalonnaise is perhaps the best region to hunt for good value reds, an increasingly scarce commodity.

In 2020, these will offer plenty of structure and density, as well as a lush, sensual fruit that should provide both the balance for drinking young and the stuffing for mid-term ageing.

Côte Chalonnaise 2020 top-value wines:

Château de Chamirey, Mercurey, 1er Cru Ruelles, 2020

Domaine A & P de Villaine, Bouzeron, 2020

Côte Chalonnaise 2020 top producers:

Château de Chamirey (Mercurey)

Domaine A. & P. de Villaine (Bouzeron and Mercurey)

Domaine Baron Thénard (Givry)

Domaine de la Ferté (Givry)

Joseph Drouhin (Rully)

Top Côte Chalonnaise 2020 en primeur wines

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of Charles’ top-scoring Côte Chalonnaise 2020 wines

See the score table listing Charles’ top Côte Chalonnaise 2020 wines all scoring 95 points or above