Following the principle of Occam’s razor, it should come as no surprise that Didier and Hélène Defaix have turned out an impressively refined and sculpted set of Burgundies from the charming 2023 vintage. As in Chablis, judicious yields and picking dates were the key to top quality in this abundant year. Defaix explained that growers who cropped too high struggled to ripen their fruit, instead resorting to chaptalisation to balance their wines. Yields here, however, were rather average, and no greater than 2022; enough, in hindsight, to soften the blow of 2024’s heartbreaking losses. (As a caveat, we should state that hl/ha is not an accurate reflection of the quality of the juice in 2023). Seeing the late harvest turn on a sixpence, Defaix started picking on 7th September when the Chardonnay was sitting in the citrus and stone fruit pocket, before things got too ripe and glossy. “We harvested very quickly to avoid sur-maturity—the opposite of 2024. I think of 2023 in the same esprit as the 2022s—two excellent vintages,” explains Didier. Defaix’s whites have a balance between generosity and classical restraint that has become the hallmark of this Côte Chalonnaise domaine. If we were splitting hairs, the whites have a tad more density than in 2022, but as Defaix remarks, both years are equally fine. Tasted in France earlier this year, Les Cloux was already vivid and juicy, with mouthfilling flavours and a bright close, while Rabourcé was denser, yet also chalkier and more mineral, its steely, white peach quality replacing the silky yellow fruit and citrus zest of Les Cloux. Benjamin Leroux opines that 2023 is one of those vintages where the reds and whites share equal billing. That’s certainly the case here, as seen in the engaging, slinky, red-fruited village Rully and the fleshy and surprisingly compact black fruit and peppercorn spice of the excellent Clos du Chapître.