Introduction

Bruno Clavelier was kind enough to show his entire range to a motley crew of Italian, Cambodian, French, and American (us) visitors. I wish I were able to capture all the geographic and geologic wisdom he imparted about the various cuvées and sites, but it was all I could do to frantically scribble some notes about the wines on my phone! One easily understood message is that the yields were low once again, and the quantity of wine is small. Some good news is that 2022 yielded healthy grapes and the first normal sized harvest in some time. All of these wines are scheduled to be bottled in the next few weeks.

Flight 1 (13 notes)

Closing

A few closing thoughts. Nobody would confuse these 2021’s with wines from the 3 preceding vintages. At the top end (which here I think lies in several of the Premier Crus rather than in the one Côte de Beaune Grand Cru holding) the wines are medium weight, fresh, pretty, and probably not for extended aging. If one has a choice, it probably would make most sense to concentrate on the Premier Cru wines if you can find them, but not everything is a slam dunk success even at this level, with the vintage’s variability on full display. Some of the lower end wines are too shrill, tart, or on the thin side. Bruno Clavelier is totally dedicated to allowing his terroirs to speak, and both times I’ve tasted here, it’s been a pleasure to try wines where the words “wood” or “oak” hardly ever make their way into the tasting notes.