Written: March 2023

Thinking back to the 2020 vintage, Pierre-Jean Roty reminisces that he was happy to have found people to work with them in the vines during covid. He notes that 2020 was a hot vintage saved by a few showers but not enough to boost yields which were less than half permitted, the smallest vintage for years, even smaller than 2003, but fresher than that. He has calculated that 2020 was 47% of a normal crop, below the 53% of 2021, and 50% in 2019.)

Picking began on 2nd September, which was later than many. The wines have finished between 13.5% and 14.5%, mostly reaching 14%, not quite as high as in 2018. It is a fine line and of course the wines have many years ahead of them. I did find that some were just a little bit too cooked for my taste, especially among the lesser appellations, though others shone through with the expected Roty long-haul brilliance. The style of the vintage has encouraged them to ask for higher toasting of the barrels, with 100% new wood for the grands crus and 90% for the Fontenys.