2022 Beaune, Les Bressandes, 1er Cru, Domaine des Croix, Burgundy

The 2022 Beaune Les Bressandes 1er Cru has a fragrant bouquet with vivid red berry fruit, crushed stone and flint, and the 50% whole bunches simpatico with the fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a slightly more lactic entry, white pepper and a hint of dark chocolate. Soft landing on the finish. This will be approachable in its youth but has the substance to age well in bottle.

The Baune appellation would enjoy a much higher status if more producers made wines of the level David Croix regularly achieves. Alas, they don’t, but that does not preclude legions of Burgundy lovers from purchasing Croix’s wines, which sell for far more reasonable prices than many of his peers. My visit is always a frank exchange of views, around half of it off the record! We began by discussing the 2022 season in the exchanges I can publish.

“I like to look at the sunshine, heat and rain from April to December,” Croix tells me. “If you look, there were a lot of insolation hours, so we got an entire month of July on top of the average. That’s a lot of extra sunshine, giving lots of phenols and the wines’ dark colour. In terms of rain, we are a little below average. But June saw 175mm, and that made a big difference to how the vines behaved. That means you did not have as much hydric stress as in 2020. Also, the yields are larger, enhancing their transparency and elegance. I made almost a normal crop in 2021, so I’m only 10% up in 2022. There’s never just one element.”

“For me, the 2022s tend to be a little serious. I picked from September 1 to 8 at 41hL/ha. I’m not going to pick early just to have 12.5% alcohol, and there are two wines above 14% alcohol from the first two vineyards that I picked. There was a little shrivelling of grapes but not much, and I made a Rosé from the fruit that I sorted out that I gave to friends. I have more in 2023. I try to extract the potential in the fruit and the skins, so I do punch downs, etc., and I’m not so much into infusion. Punching down to me is not an insult.

Croix was one of the most impressive winemakers in the challenging 2021 season, and he repeated that success in 2022. The heart of the portfolio is his exemplary range of Beaune Premier Crus, not least outstanding in Pertuisots and Tuvilains that rank alongside his Corton Grand Crus. There are a couple of cuvées where I would have moderated the percentage of whole bunches, which Croix forced into higher levels due to the small quantities to fill the single barrel. As a winemaker who does not subscribe to the vogue for “infusion,” Croix macerates as minimally as possible, resulting in wines with ample body while retaining a sense of elegance and classicism.

Drink 2026 - 2038

Half whole bunch. Medium to bright purple, with some quite attractive mid raspberry fruit. Despite a minor reductive touch this has excellent energy with a fine fresh finish. A lovely long aftertaste, spicy yet showing the freshness of the fruit at the same time.

Drink 2029 - 2036