2021 Bourgogne Rouge Le Vieux Sage

The 2021 Bourgogne Rouge Le Vieux Sage comes from a plot that Catharina Sadde quipped is “ugly”, at least aesthetically speaking, since it is populated with 70-year-old vines that are the source of a massal selection. It tends to ripen the earliest, and the pied de cuve comes from this parcel, vinified without SO2 and including 50-60% whole bunches. Lovely raspberry, wild strawberry and pressed rose petal scents appear on the nose, which gains fruit intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a seductive rondeur more aligned with the 2022 vintage. A touch of sour cherry on the finish counterbalances the ripeness. Just two barrels were produced. (NM)