The Château de Gevrey-Chambertin is an almost iconic building in the old core of the village – from almost every angle it’s rather photogenic – and either side of being pillaged and rebuilt, it has been so for about 1,000 years – and you get a lot of pillaging and rebuilding in a millennia!
From Wikipedia:
The castle of Gevrey-Chambertin, was certainly considerably revised in the second half of the XIIIth century, and was, during St Bernard life time, and even probably slightly earlier, a priory belonging to the Abbey of Cluny. Hughes, bishop of Auxerre, and his sister Maheldis, both descendants of Manasses of Vergy, a powerful leader of Burgundy in the 9th century, in 1015 and 1019 donated the “CURTIS” called Gevrey to the monastery of Cluny of which abbot was then St Odilon. Then, Yves de Poisey and his nephew Yves de Chazan , both abbots of Cluny and born of the lords of Vergy, gave its first official appearance to the building, between 1257 and 1275 : a vast rectangle, surrounded with moats. The southwest entrance was composed of a stone bridge, and further a drawbridge, flanked by two square towers. A big square tower stood at the southeast corner, and at the northeast was a dovecote on top of a small “cul de lampe” tower.
The big square tower remains intact and is best viewed from the gardens – actually vineyard. As so many older ‘properties’, the Château was sold-off in 1791 into private ownership. Bought by the Masson family – wine-makers from the Jura – in 1858, it is still owned and maintained by their descendants. The Château has been classified as a Historic Monument surprisingly only since 1993 – a number of the rooms are renowned for their “engobe” ceramic tiles.
The Domaine
Genevieve Masson took up ownership about 1955, and now it is her daughter Elisabeth Mitéran, who with her son Luc makes wines from a portfolio of vineyards which make up the Domaine du Château de Gevrey-Chambertin.
The domaine has an interesting selection of vines – including some ‘choice’ parcels – but the domaine is not representative of many others profiled in the Burgundy Report, it is more of a tourist attraction where you pay €2.50, get a small tour of the immediate vineyards and a small pour from 2-3 wines which you may then purchase. More later of my experience here, but first a little about their vines:
- Bourgogne Rouge: from a small 0.05 hectare parcel of vines sited in Brochon – just one barrel per year.
- Gevrey-Chambertin: getting interesting here, the vines are within the walls of the Château and are mix of older and younger parcels that average about 50 years old, but one parcel averages 90 years old – some of the ‘feet’ in this section are even 120 years old! The old-vine section has been a separate cuvée since 1998. The rest, the cuvée ‘Clos du Château? is about 20 barrels worth.
- Gevrey 1er Lavaux St.Jacques: yielding an average 5 barrels per year
- Charmes-Chambertin: a small 0.11 hectare parcel that provides an average yield of 2 barrels
The Wine-Making
Everything is picked by hand and then fermented in the original 1860 oak vats (with some patching!) for about 15 days. There is no planned pre-fermentation maceration – for instance fermentation began with 24 hours in 2003 – the cap is pressed in a very old horizontal wooden press. Wines are assembled in stainless-steel before being transferred to barrel for approximately 2 years aging. Two new barrels are bought each year for the Charmes-Chambertin, the rest of the wines go into purchased 1 year-old barrels. Until 1970 the wines were made with whole bunches, but since then everything has been destemmed “we changed because you need 30 years for a wine to mature if you work with the stems” said Luc Mitéran.
Quoting the domaine’s website: “The wood press, almost two centuries old, obtains the final nectar, which is poured in oak barrels.”
That’s the hard sell – so what is in the glass? I note that after a good ‘sales pitch tour’ by Luc, the (mainly) pre-opened wines were taken from a refrigerator and had been vacuvinned – I don’t have a major issue with this, except that I don’t know if the wines were opened 1,2 or 10 days before our visit! Keep that in mind for the tasting notes:
Normally 50% of production is sold to ‘the négoce’, but Luc noted that in the last year because of the economy, the négoce had said ‘no’, unless prices came down – so the domaine kept their wine. The colour is medium-pale red. Lots of kirsch aromas. Good sweetness and decent volume in the mouth – the acidity is a little sharp though. The fruit is high-toned and quite pretty, the tannin relatively faint. The finish is okay – I would say almost good, but far from great.
Medium colour. The nose shows a darker cherry aroma though is a little volatile. In the mouth it seems less obviously ripe than the 01 villages. More tannin that has a lick of astringency – clearly not a ‘late picked’ 2002!
The only wine where the cork is pulled, and it’s clearly the best. Medium colour. An interesting nose, just a little animale, underpinned with good fruit. Ripe and interesting across the tongue, a little fat, good dimension and fine acidity. The fruit has a high-toned stance. A good wine – but the potential here should be great.
Overall: A nice place to visit on a sunny day, but you could easily not bother tasting – whether due to old samples or old methods!
Made my first visit Chateau Gevrey in 1979 buying the 1976 vintage. Madame Masson is quite a character. Those wines and subsequent visits to purchase the 1985, and 1990 vintages showed me that although the wines are very good, they outlive her corks. She uses the smallest cork I’ve seen in Burgundy, and they don’t hold up well. Quite a shame.
Dear Carmine – many thanks for your insight. I didn’t meet Mme Masson, though I did have to jump out of the way of her speeding car! I also understand that she is rather ‘single-minded’!
Hello. I am luc, the person you are talking about in this explaination and who received you. thank you for talking about the caslte of gevrey.
I have to say that, of course, we never put our wines in a refrigirator. When we let it taste, it comes from the lower cellar, which is a bit colder than the upper one, where the wines are sold. during the upper season, our wines are open every day, because a lot of people taste it, but it is true that out of the season, they can be kept some days with a vacuvin, because the wine is still good and we don’t need to throw it away, as long as it is. And, as all natural wines, they keep longer than wines which are added with what makes them be keen to the eye and mouth, but not for long years.
we produce a wine that is not comparable to many others, and it is true that as it is naturally made, it does not fit the american taste that is very industrial and uses lots of chemicals and modern methods, which lead far from the original taste of burgundy wines. That is somethnig rude to say, I know, and I am sorry, but it is true. People’s tastes regarding wines are under the influence of some tasters that say ” this must me that or that”. But nature is nature, and happilly will always be. Even if people are taught to like and other way.
When you make wine the old way, you take the risk to read, further on, opinions like that, which only reflect the politically and commercially correct way of liking wine, following Parker’s taste, or people that have followed his way of changing the public’s way of liKe.
we are taking this risk, because we think that more and more, people are going to intend to reach back nature and then natural products.
Most often, an orange from the tree is not as beautiful as in the supermarket. and some people go on saying that as it has been made with the utmost modern methods, it is better. just close your eyes and open your heart. this will give you the real taste, without the need of anybody to tell you whether it is good or not.
good tastings !
luc
Hi Luc,
Thanks for visiting. I’m sure some americans probably buy your wines
Cheers…
happily yes, most of those who come do. but still, they are looking for a label prior to a wine when they are visiting the village, and are more interested in finding back what is told about wines in specialized magazines than in just discovering it with a brand new view of it. so it is a big deal for a good number of them to open their mind to the simple fact of getting rid of books and just hold the glass, swirl and smell it the good way, ( which I teach them) without any specific read idea before to taste. I say that, but it does not concern only the american, most of the people do so.
when I was a little boy, at the foot of the castle, was a big cherry tree, that gave those very special black cherries, not so sugared, but with a delicous, onctuous and unforgettable taste. with this deep, purple juice, that one’s tee shirt may never forget even using the washing machine, after years. And that, then, makes pleasure stains in the heart, that nobody could neither erase. At this time, I was too young to apreciate wine. But old enough to climb the tree, and eat as many cherries as I could, with a mouthfull of these dark summer delight.
when I grew up, I was taught about wines by my mother, who makes it here. and, what made me fall in love with it was not the name on the label. I had read nothing. I was brand new. And, closing my eyes, I saw it. The cherry tree. It had died at the moment I starded this tasting, and I was missing the time when I was climbing on it. and, in my glass, I found back what I had so saddly lost : the very cherry taste that I never could find in any supermarket nor any other garden. And then, my youth.
sorry for my english which is not perfect. In french, I would find other words to say that.
But what I can say is that the word ” Buy” you are mentionning is not my real interest in the whole story. even if writing such things as I can read on the top of this page can make americans choose another wine. What I aim to is to try, if they will, to help people finding their way of liking the wines they are tasting. even if they are not those form the castle of gevrey. But always if they have been made naturally. And with love for wine instead of love for money.
I’m trying to teach people to taste their own way, with teh simple tools we all have. And with their own memories, that, beware (!) may jump out of the glass to reach your nose and then your whole.
bonjour Luc . c’est l’artiste americain. Je vais amener un autre groupe d’artistes/peintres a beaune du 3 au 10 juin et je suis en train de demander l’autorisation de peindre dans les vignobles. J’ai ecrit une lettre a la soeur de Elisabeth (Marie) pour demander.
Amicalement
Philip Levine
Bonjour philippe. si je suis là, je vous accueillerai avec plaisir
Luc
Luc, your description of the cherry tree and your early experience with wine was beautifully painted. I can’t wait to visit!
Luc:
I visited your Chateau in September of 2005 and had a wonderful tasting with Elizabeth in the lower room.
The Premiere Cru Lavaux-St-Jacques was simply amazing, to this day I have never another wine that rivaled that.
Merci!
hello Wendy And Nate
Thank you, Nate, for your telling your lavaux saint jacques tasting. I am glad to know that you likes it. Now, we have the vieille vigne, ( 90 years old) which is wonderful too.
thank you Wendy, and Bill, ( who gave my mail to wendy) to have come to the castle for a wine tour this day. It was a great pleasure to me to welcome you !
luc
My wife and I visited the Chateau in 1991 and at that time bought a bottle of the 1990 and also the 1991 Laveaux. It has been cellared since then. Is it ready to drink yet or should we leave it for some time.
Hope to hear from you soon Luc.
Kind regards
Frank Bird