Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat Grand Cru ‘Romanée-Saint-Vivant’ 2021

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Hudelot-Noëllat Richebourg and Romanée st Vivant represent the summit of Charles’ considerable achievements and follow, though in a more complex and powerful manner, the general Hudelot-Noëllat line.

Although the 93 year old vines in Romanée st Vivant give it an extra dimension of depth, neither wine is overbalanced by clumsy fruit, which might threaten the underlying finesse. The Richebourg is altogether bigger than the Romanée st Vivant, with great power and majestic depth. The Romanée st Vivant, in contrast, has more obvious refinement and elegance yet with underlying, restrained power.

Surface Area: 0.48 ha

Exposure: East

Subsoil: Calcareous Limestone

Production: 2400 bottles

Description: Romanée-Conti lies on brown calcareous soil which is very clayey (60 cm). Romanée-Saint-Vivant has neighbouring soils but deeper (90 cm). Higher on the hillside, La Romanée has a sharp slope (12 %) and a less clayey texture. La Tâche and La Grande Rue share the brown calcareous soils which are not very thick in the upper part, deeper in the lower part (rendzines). It is the same for the Le Richebourg depending on the slope and the side. Sub-foundations: hard calcareous of the Premeaux. Geological origin: Jurassic (175 million years).

Vinification:
– 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
– 50% 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 2021 Vintage at Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat

Charles Van Canneyt described 2021 as “one we were hammered by frost. I put warming candles out for our Meursault vines as they were the most advanced and though it was variable, it would be fair to say that there was frost damage in all of our vines. We picked from the 22nd to the 25th of September and despite the fairly heavy disease pressure, there really wasn’t much sorting required. Yields though were largely terrible as we made 90 barrels in 2021 instead of, for example, 213 in 2022! This works out on average to only 20 hl/ha. Potential alcohols were really very good as they came in right at 13% with good pHs of between 3.58 and 3.60 post-malo. While it would have been nice to have better yields, in a fashion of looking at the positive side of things, I am certain that the quality would have been mediocre had we had normal yields.” Van Canneyt noted that there will be no Nuits Bas de Combe or Vosne Malconsorts due to the excessively small volumes 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.