Had my fair share of ‘20 whites CdB and they have been excellent. Was in Burg last year and was able to barrel sample ‘22s and bottle sample ‘21s (some were still in barrel). ‘21 is very heterogeneous to the point there are few great, some good and the rest… I would opt for ‘20 or ‘22 (unless the ‘21 style is your jam and then focus there but price and scarcity you could probably do better). The ‘22s I had were fantastic, and like Bordeaux, more dense but more acid than one would expect. Is ‘20 white better than ‘22 white- I just don’t know yet as the samples were excellent but not yet in bottle. I came away with the impression to go full budget and based on allocations ok to exceed.
Even though ‘22 was one of the hottest, it was also one of the driest and I would guess across the board picked one of the earliest, yet phenolic ripe and freshness. Keep in mind there wasn’t the heat spikes of 2003 or 2020 allowing them the time and learnings to take hold.
For what it’s worth, a buzzy, noted White Burg producer told me recently that privately most vignerons agree that 21 made great/very good wines, and better than the very good/good 20 or 22.
Yields were very low in 2021 but what berries remained were excellent. They had to work hard and show deft care to squeeze the best out of a tough vintage.
The more solar years were a bit “easier” and a shade lense tense.
He also noted ironically that prices went up in 21 because of short crop. But producers bumped prices yet again in abundant 2022.
I will say I’ve enjoyed the 21s and 20s I’ve had … but for different reasons .
Tasting descriptors are very subjective, but in my lexicon gooseberries — which are puckeringly tart and acidic — are almost the diametric opposite of tropical.
PS Which probably illustrates yet again why tasting notes full of standard fruit descriptors are kinda worthless (one man’s strawberry is another man’s raspberry or even rhubarb).
21 Chablis I’ve had from reliable producers are excellent. For me that is Droin, Louis Michel, Bessin Tremblay, La Chablisienne. I prefer 21 over 20 and 19; the vintage is more “classical” in style and less ripe. Prices did spike for 21 and consensus is to tread deliberately. But the highs are high
2020 Laurent Tribut Chablis - France, Burgundy, Chablis (4.12.2022)
On the nose there is the classic tart-ish lemony fruit and the slight woodiness you would expect. However very obviously there is also something vegetal (think green asparagus) that sticks out quite clearly. Hmm. On the palate it is very much the same story. Nice airy yet nervous mouthfeel like always with Tribut, great acidity and minerally tones, but also vegetality that you would not wish to find here. Weird stuff, this is by all means otherwise classic Tribut and a hella nice wine on the palate but towards the finish the green streak gets very obvious and takes away from the enjoyment quite significantly. It doesn’t matter as much when drunk with food but on its own the wine suffers quite a bit from it. Such a shame, although my understanding is that Chablis as a region will have no problem selling through this vintage and moving over to 2021 (if this indeed is as wide spread as claimed).
I’ve loved every 2020 drunk so far. No personal tasting experience with 2021 and 2022, but I’ve bought 2021’s based on word of mouth and reviews. Jeremy’s comments on 2022 are intriguing.
Yeah I don’t know, I feel like maybe it’s just me, that I’m particularly sensitive to this characteristic. I also found something similar in some 2011 Loire Chenins and yet most CT notes for such wines didn’t seem to mention it.