The 2020 Chassagne rouge old vine bottling comes in at an even thirteen percent octane in this vintage and is beautifully sappy and black fruity in personality. The bouquet wafts from the glass in a mix of cassis, sweet blackberries, bitter chocolate, woodsmoke, pigeon, dark soil tones and a whisper of oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and nicely soil-driven in personality, with a sappy core of fruit, suave tannins and a long, complex and well-balanced finish. Fine juice.
John Gilman
Bursting with aromas of cherries, berries, violets, plums and dark chocolate, the 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and vibrant, with powdery tannins and a crunchy core of fruit. The 2020 vintage has turned out brilliantly at Domaine Bernard Moreau—but what's new? Alex Moreau readied his harvesters promptly, as it takes eight days to pick the whole domaine, and began on August 20th. Yields were good, and the cellar is full (which is not the case in 2021), with alcohols moderate, the highest being 13.4%. As usual, the fruit is crushed before pressing (which lasts up to three and a half hours), briefly settled and barreled down (François Frères is the predominant cooper here) for vinification with plenty of lees, Moreau doing nothing to discourage quite protracted fermentations, which he finds build texture and complexity into the wines. For my palate, the results are some of the finest white wines produced on the Côte de Beaune, and they occupy a prominent place in my personal cellar. The market is certainly taking notice, and prices are rising fast, but readers won't want to miss the 2020s.
Wine Advocate
This is very ripe but agreeably fresh with its aromas of earthy dark berry liqueur and a whiff of the sauvage. There is outstanding richness to the caressing, even suave, medium weight flavors that coat the palate with sappy dry extract on the moderately rustic finale. This has acceptably energy though I wouldn't recommend aging it for more than a few years.
Burghound
From 50 year old vines. Alex Moreau notes that the average yield has improved from 20 to 35 hl/ha since switching back from cordon pruning to the Guyot system. That is a healthier yield for wine quality as well as for economics, reducing coarser tannins from over thick skins. Mid purple with a very pretty perfume. Just a little touch of astringency, with blooded plum notes.
Jasper Morris