Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat Chambolle-Musigny 2020

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Surface Area: 0.85 ha

Exposure: 11 plots with different exposures

Subsoil: Calcareous Limestone

Production: 12000 bottles

Description: About 50 years lots of finesse and silky tannins

Vinification:
– Manual harvesting and sorting
– 80% Destemming
– Punching down during grape fermentation
– Fermentation only with indigenous yeasts
– Wines are not clarified or filtered
– Wines are kept for 16 months in oak barrels
– 20% new barrels

About Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat

Founded in 1962 by Alain Hudelot, the domain covers 10 hectares spread over 4 villages and 15 designations. Today it is run by his grandson, Charles van Canneyt. Since 2005 Alain had been helped by Vincent Meunier, who continues to work with Charles.

The Romanée St Vivant wines were planted in 1920, and most other crus including Richebourg were planted between 1920-1950.

The Premiere Crus, Vosne Romanée Les Beaumonts, Les Suchots and Malconsorts all consist of almost 100 year old vines and produce the finest examples of these fine terroirs.

In the Vineyard

No work is spared in the vineyards. The philosophy of having healthy vines to lead to healthy grapes in order to make better wines is carefully followed.

In the Winery

During vintage, careful sorting is done in the vineyards followed by detailed further sorting in the winery before the juice is carefully brought into the concrete enameled fermentation tanks. Charles’s philosophy is to keep up to 20% of the stems with the juice, especially in vintages and appellations where the fruit can support the extra tannins. The wines are aged in casks particularly from Allier, with some from the Vosges and local Citeaux.

The 2020 Vintage at Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat

Charles Van Canneyt described 2020 as “one that was again hot and dry though at least we didn’t have much disease pressure to deal with. I began picking the whites on the 22nd of August and followed with the reds on the 29th while finishing up on the 1st of September. The fruit was exceptionally clean with yields that were a bit higher than what we realized in 2019, which is to say 30 to 35 hl/ha compared with 25 to 30 hl/ha. The potential alcohols were good without being high at between 13 and 13.5%, which is materially lower than 2019 came in at 13.5 to 14.5%. Because of the thick skins, I chose to vinify very softly, in fact I did no punch downs at all with the completely destemmed fruit. I had no difficulties with the fermentations though curiously for a vintage without much malic acid, the malos were slow to finish, which was also the case in 2019. As to the wines, I have two minor observations: the first is that I think Vougeot did extremely well in 2020, better than usual in any event. Regarding which vintage I prefer between 2019 and 2020, I have a small preference for 2020 based on its excellent energy and freshness.” I agree with Van Canneyt that his 2020s are really lovely and they rival the quality of his 2019s. Van Canneyt further noted that the 2019s reviewed below were bottled in March 2021. Be aware that Van Canneyt bottles with relatively high levels of CO2 (<900 mg) so they tend to be reduced and in need of decanting when young. 

Burghound

Somewhat lower in alcohol than his 2019 portfolio but just as striking and sensual in style, Charles Van Canneyt has produced a brilliant range of wines in the 2020 vintage—including what may well be his best Richebourg (to mention only one cuvée out of several by name) to date. Harvest began on August 28th and only lasted a few days, delivering wines of striking concentration and energy. Everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended and will be well worth seeking out.

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Where in the World is Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat?

Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat is based in Chambolle-Musigny with an impressive array of vineyards through Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle-Musigny, Nuits-Saint-Georges & Meurault.