The 2020 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru is promising, unwinding in the glass with a dark and brooding bouquet of cassis, elderberries and plums mingled with notions of smoked duck, spices, bitter orange and rose petals. Full-bodied, deep and layered, it's rich and concentrated (reflecting derisory yields of only 15 hectoliters per hectare), with powdery tannins, lively acids and a long, resonant finish. With the 2020, we begin to approach the levels of intensity and texture found in the domaine's wines of yesteryear, and if this wine realizes all its promise, my score will look conservative.
Jacques Devauges told me that he picked between August 20 and August 26, reporting tiny yields of only 15 hectoliters per hectare and a finished alcohol for Clos des Lambrays itself of around 13.8%. This is the domaine's second year in organic certification and its first in biodynamic farming. The Clos was vinified without any destemming and no punch-downs whatsoever, in specially designed vats (whose technical details Devauges refused to divulge, telling me that he intends to share the secrets with the world some time this year) that permit him to separate the vineyard's various parcels. We tasted multiple components—which do display notable differences in function of location, vine age and vine material—and then the very impressive final blend.