DOM MICHEL NIELLON CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET MALTROIE 2021

Michel Niellon s son-in-law, Michel Coutoux, who has been at the domaine since 1990, is easing out of the day-to-day operations. He is doing so in favor of his children, one of whom, Lucie, has assumed responsibility for the vinification of the reds. She also presented the whites and frankly noted that 2021 to be perfectly honest, gave me the cold sweats. A warmer than usual winter started bud break too early, which of course was the perfect scenario for an early season frost to do a lot of damage, and that is exactly what transpired. As if that wasn t enough, the summer was awful in terms of disease pressure and especially for oidium and mildew. We finally stumbled to the harvest, which for us began on the 16th of September. The fruit was clean but there just wasn t much of it. Amazingly enough, we picked fully 3 ha in only one day! In the end, we lost between 65 and 85% in our 1ers though the villages Chassagne was a bit better at only off 30%. At first I didn t really like the wines as they didn t seem to have much personality but as the élevage progressed and the malos finished, they became much more interesting. I can say that I have come full circle on the 2021s as now that they are in bottle, they are classic whites of discretion and understatement that are crystalline in their terroir purity. Fans of the domaine should be aware that the label has been redesigned as of the 2019 vintage and that the Bâtard will not reappear until 2023 or 2024. The vines in Chevalier will be progressively replaced as well over the next few years. Lastly, Coutoux noted that the 2021s were bottled in August 2022.