Roland Lavantureux - Bourgogne Epineuil Les Fauconniers 2020 (750ml)

5 Star Wine - Jasper Morris - Inside Burgundy
2020, Bourgogne Epineuil Les Fauconniers, Domaine Roland Lavantureux 89-91 
"The second vintage of this new project. 75% is matured in barrel, 25% in tank. Glowing vibrant purple. At first I thought there was something a little bit sunburned on the nose unlike the 2019, and despite employing a large team to remove grilled grapes, but after a while in the glass the bouquet just kept getting better and better as the fruit developed. There is a slight trace of the gravelly graphite quality typical of many reds in the Yonne département, but a seductive sweetness of high quality pinot as well and very long. The 2019 was a slam dunk from the first sniff, but I think the 2020 is closing in on the same exceptional quality." Tasted: June 2021

"The Lavantureux brothers continue to astound with the quality of their wines from their base in the lesser known village of Lignorelles. Not just their whites, but reds too with the arrival of Epineuil Fauconniers in 2019, just a small slice to begin with but a much larger holding from 2022. Among their Chablis wines, I am particularly intrigued by Vauprin, which is on kimmeridgian soil in a part of the region which rarely is. Arnaud Lavantureux mentions that among its attributes it has, along with their 1er cru Vau de Vey, the most significant diurnal swing between day-time and night-time temperatures.

Picking began on 25th August 2020. Wines from the Chablis Vieilles Vignes upwards are made 50:50 between tank and wood, though the blends had been made. That apart, the wines were still in a very early stage of development when I tasted, with nothing bottled."