The Chardonnay is the grape variety for the white Hautes-Côtes de Nuits wines:
- Density: 10,000 feet/hectare.
- Pruning: Guyot, Cordon de Royat.
- Harvest: Manual
- Yields: allowed 66 hl/hectare (59 hl:ha in high vines)
Serve with a foie gras, chicken in sauce, hot pasta and pies, or a nice cheese tray with roquefort, aisy cendré, comté affiné, chaource.
2020 was notable for its mildness and low rainfall. After a winter with no serious frosts, we went straight into a spring dominated by sunny, dry weather, resulting in very early bud break. Infrequent outbreaks of rain in June and July were not enough to stave off water shortages.
Very high summer temperatures combined with intense sun exposure levels led to the vines gradually falling prey to hydric stress, causing delays to fruit ripening before harvest-time.
Once again, the vegetative cycle was shortened, being almost three weeks ahead of 2019’s. Thankfully, the harvest was saved by the relative cool of the nights. The harvest was of marvelous quality but there was very little juice in the red grapes (reduction of 30 to 50%), and reasonable potential alcohol, despite the heat.
The whites, on the other hand, coped very well with these extreme conditions and yields were very good.