Guy Amiot & Fils Burgundy wines
The whites
- Le Montrachet Grand Cru
- Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Demoiselles
- Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets
- Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chaumées « Clos Saint Abdon »
- Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers
- Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos Saint Jean
- Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champgains
- Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Maltroie
- Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Baudines
- Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles
- Beaune 1er Cru “Champs-Pimont”
- Saint-Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly
- Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes
- Meursault “Sous la Velle”
- Meursault “Vieilles Vignes”
- Santenay “Vieilles Vignes”
- Bouzeron “Les Bouillotes”
- Beaune “Longbois”
- Bourgogne Chardonnay “Cuvée Flavie”
- Bourgogne Aligoté “Les Grands Champs”
Which vintage to choose? The winemaker's opinion...
2022 & 2023
Global warming is confirmed avec high heat episodes causing hydric stress and sometimes « drying berries » known as « grillure » but happily, these two sunny summers were free from any spring frost or hail in Chassagne-Montrachet, allowing to produce the so wished quantities of grapes. More wines, with a 2018ish profile, to be released soon… stay tuned !
2021
Frosty temperatures (-2° to -8°C) and even snow… surprised us in the nights of April 6-7-8, causing heavy losses in buds enabled to make it into vine flowers, to grow into so wished grapes… what a waste after months of work in the vineyards leading to very little in just a few hours ! 3 white nights attempting in vain to warm the vines up under a winter cold in spring ! Unlike early 2020, we had to wait the end of the ripening process until September 21 to start harvesting.
Yields are naturally low, in favor of fruit flavors concentration, reminding of 2016 vintage, « same cause, same result ». It is paradoxical that the winemaker is upset by less grapes when the consumer can enjoy flavor- enhanced wines !
2020
Following spring frost on April 3rd (-3°C), 2020 started a cycle severely hit by « global warming » : drought episodes affect the crop stronger and stronger, leading us to adapt cultural methods to minimize the impact. From July 27 to Aug 15 2020, high heat caused hydric stress until the rain arrived on August 16. Harvest started on August 27, switching from white to red grapes, depending on each plot maturity level, dealing with rain showers on August 28 and 31st, to conclude the harvest on September 4.
Eventually, 2020 is a successful vintage for both colors thanks to sunshine and an earlier date of harvest to ensure decent levels of acidity. Balance was reached and the vintage is now seducing mouths, after the traditional 2 years of ageing in our cellar.
2019
The mornings of the 5th and 14th April 2019 reminded us of the “farmer’s wisdom”: “Nature, not Man, decides on the harvest! ”
The heavy frosts recorded in just a few hours were enough to decimate a large part of the upcoming harvest… and to remind us of the pleasure of being able to harvest generous vintages like 2015, 2017 and 2018 which were exceptional in this decade marked by worrying climatic events: drought, excessive rain, violent storms, frost, hail, and so on. Our old vines, nourished by thousand-year-old terroirs, nevertheless rewarded the manual labour of 12 months of wine production. The maturing process, extended until July 2021 for the Chardonnay and September 2021 for the Pinots, brought our wines to a level worthy of a great vintage for drinking pleasure and also for ageing, for those lucky enough to be able to collect these too rare bottles.
2018
2018 was a great vintage: sunny, powerful, generous… as we would like to have more often in Burgundy!
The hot summer and dry weather favoured a healthy and very ripe harvest. Our old vines were able to draw on the deep soils to ensure their survival until the harvest, which began on 13th of September under the sun.
The particularly high degrees of alcohol (up to 15% in some plots) required very precise monitoring of the fermentations to successfully transform the natural sugars into alcohol.
The result was exceptional: rarely does the fruit of the Chardonnay and especially the Pinot Noir reveal itself with such force… Thank you Mother Nature!
2017
The spring frost was brought under control thanks to straw burning, a lesson learned from 2016 when we suffered freezing spring temperatures and massive crop losses
2017 was therefore a very good wine year thanks to the constant sunshine which delivered healthy, ripe grapes full of aroma. The water stress forced our old vines to draw nutrients from the subsoil.
The harvest started under the sun on 7th of September.
The expression of the different terroirs of whites and reds is remarkable in its precision and underlined by an elegant tension.
2016
We were surprised by an icy morning in April when the buds were burnt by the sun’s rays reflected by the frost: in one hour, 70% of the future harvest was decimated at Chassagne!
This unfortunate natural event had the effect of reducing the load of grapes, allowing the vines to feed those that remained better, and producing wines of exceptional aromatic quality. The key word for the 2016 vintage is “concentration” as less juice and more nutrients were added to the grapes.
In addition, cool nights helped to balance this very fruity presence with a remarkable tension on the palate, conducive to a good ageing potential of the vintage.
2015
Powerful, sunny, rich and fruity, this beautiful, very fragrant vintage also has a slightly acidic structure that brings a pleasant freshness in the mouth.
2014
After an exceptionally hot and dry spring which triggered an early budburst (as in 2011), the climatic break occurred on 28th June in the form of a big hail storm (very violent from Meursault to Beaune). After the hail storm, the summer was rather cool and humid with a return of the sun during the last 3 weeks before the harvest, which started in Chassagne on 13th of September.
Finally, the balance between freshness and ripeness was achieved thanks to this weather sequence which combined spring heat, summer humidity and the strong luminosity of unseasonably warm, dry autumn weather.
2013
The high humidity of the summer of 2013 introduced a constant threat to the vineyard in the form of oidium and rot which were contained but caused significant crop losses. The harvest date had to be pushed back to the end of September in order to harvest grapes that were sufficiently ripe and balanced in aroma and acidity.
This patience was rewarded by wines that were both lively and gratifying, with perfectly integrated woody characters. Their structure is powerful and harmonious with a pleasant minerality from the terroir.
2012
In 2012, the weather conditions made the work of the winemaker difficult: heavy rain, spring frost and hail storms followed one another from May to September.
After a struggle of several months to preserve quality grapes, the barrels were filled, with yields half those of a normal year, but with a highly concentrated wine: richness, roundness and freshness are therefore the qualities found in our wines.
It is a fine reward for a year that saw winemakers distinguish themselves for the rigour and talent with which they worked.
2011
A cool and technical vintage:
- poor weather conditions increased the pressure of common vine diseases (mildew, oidium, etc.)
- vigilance and manual and mechanical care were required to safeguard the harvest
Despite modest yields due to bad weather, these efforts were amply rewarded by a quality that has been confirmed over time: all our wines from the 2011 vintage were pleasant to taste very young and even before bottling!
As the years go by, this classic vintage remains highly appreciated for its expressiveness and richness while retaining a beautiful freshness.