2023 Richebourg

Here the fruit is cooler yet darker with similar floral influences and all but invisible wood surrounding the even spicier plum and exotic tea-scented nose. There is better mid-palate density as well as evident power to the large-scaled yet refined flavors that deliver outstanding length on the even more structured, strikingly long, beautifully balanced and complex finale. The RSV is certainly lovely but in 2023, the Riche is at another level. Drink from 2038.

The 2023 Richebourg Grand Cru has a complex, pure, focused bouquet with a strong marine influence and plenty of tightly coiled black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a sorbet-fresh opening. It has superb structure, though it's not as velvety as the Romanée-Saint-Vivant, with slightly sharper acidity and a sustained finish. Apparently, this is becoming more and more complex in barrel. It's very concentrated but it delivers the energy and frisson that should guarantee it ages long-term. Charles van Canneyt is a bit stressed. His plane was delayed from San Sebastián, which meant a last-minute rejigging of my afternoon schedule. The silver lining is that it allowed more time, since his was my last visit of the day. Not only could I taste the wines from Hudelot-Nöellat, but also the first three wines from his Domaine des Chezeaux project. This is going forward now that negotiations with Laurent Ponsot reached an amicable conclusion, and I will taste the extended range next year. "We knew it would be a generous vintage, but we weren't expecting quantities like this," van Canneyt admits. "We did a green harvest in some vineyards, mostly in the Bourgogne Rouge and one or two in Chambolle with respect to the younger vines. This helped control yields. We had very warm weather during harvest, so we had to pick early. We began on September 11. There are a lot of differences between producers [in terms of when to pick]. We had to be quick, as the sanitary conditions were declining, but fortunately we have a large team of 50 pickers plus 15 carriers. I decided to do a saignée, which is something my grandfather used to do. I was a bit nervous at first. We removed the riper juice to keep grapes with more acidity, and this helped to naturally concentrate the wines, which is easier to extract. Everything is destemmed as usual, with aging in a maximum of 50% new oak for the Grand Crus. Some of the malos finished just two weeks ago, and I added some SO2 afterwards. I am happy because the wines are ripe but not overripe, refreshing compared to 2019 and 2022. They will probably drink earlier, but the balance means that they should age well."