Tasted in Morey St.Denis with Nicolas Groffier, 23 April 2024.
Domaine Robert Groffier Père & Fils
3 Route des Grands Crus
21220 Morey-Saint-Denis
Tel: +33 3 80 34 31 53
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Nicolas on 2022:
“All of the wines been bottled since about mid-December. There was some hail at the start of 2022 season – normally traumatic for the vines as they only had about 20cm of growth – but they returned well. I was expecting to harvest no more than 20 hl/ha because it had been so dry and I was expecting no juice – but the volume was close to correct so that was a very good surprise. In the end, it seemed not too warm and not too bright so we still have the definition of the pinot in the wines – but there was no dryness to the flavours as I preferred to infuse rather than extract – using whole clusters for even more freshness. The more clay we have the more wc we use to keep the perfume…”
The wines…
Great Bourgognes and quite exquisite wines in the rest of the range – I’d call that a resounding success !!
75% pinot here from vines in Morey…
Fresh and clean – very precise fruit aromatic. Direct, clean, almost muscular and direct – mineral finishing with a faint reduction and very long for the label – that’s a great PTG !!
Old, 80-year-old, vines just under the Clos de Vougeot – lots of clay so no mechanical extraction here.
Another fresh and energetic nose – plenty of volume here – a higher intensity of florals. Really a mineral and intense style – structure but not too hard – still a wine that I’d wait for – long, modestly structural. I’d wait 5 years but a great regional !!
2022 Gevrey-Chambertrin Les Seuvrées
About 1/3rd wc here. ‘A gevrey with a Morey finesse!’ under Charmes-Chambertin – sandy soil here and again with 80-year-old vines
Another open freshness and clarity of aroma – so precise. Clean, impressively intense, juicy red fruit – again with super precision. A beauty…
2022 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Hautes Doix
‘A luminous but not warm place – I consider this to be the ‘north face’ of Les Amoureuses – just a little cooler than that vineyard – but it makes a difference – just 5 minutes less of sun per day and a bit more wind – like today !!’
A deeper aromatic, more vegetal and complex. Ultra silky and precise in the mouth – mineral – no hint of vegetal in the flavour – just a beautiful Chambolle style then a vibration of finishing energy.
2022 Morey St.Denis 1er Les Sentiers
Just 200m from the domaine, under Bonnes-Mares – a lot of iron and clay in the soil – but not deep soil, the limestone. ‘It’s the wine that you can keep for many years – I don’t think it’s great at 10 years – you have to wait longer – the 2006 is just opening.’
A small extra concentration but here with less overall aromatic volume. Beautiful floral perfumed energy though, supported by a tiny grain of tannin – but still silky. The finish, like the last, with such an impressive energy – ultra long – wow! Great finishing.
2022 Bonnes-Mares
‘A mix of clay and sand but not really either – it’s marne.’ 25% terres blanches (on the top) that brings some citrus and minerality – it could be great one day for Riesling!’ Next to the vines of Les Sentiers – ‘my first thoughts are to remember that these vines are in Cambolle so I don’t extract – it should be a wine that comes from Chambolle.’
Extra aromatic volume – lots of herby complexity to go with some floral accents. So fluid and cool – extra depth to this flavour too – a supple texture that suggests drinkability – a depth and growing intensity – that tells you to wait – simply excellent Bonnes-Mares – the finish becomes ever-more vibrant – more and more!!
The domaine’s Bèze not shown…
And two versions of Les Amoureuses this year, with small additions to the labels:
2022 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Amoureuses La grace des Argilles
The clay, on the Clos de Vougeot side – ‘but it’s warmer.’
Airy, floral, ultra-pretty aromatics. Beautiful in the mouth, supported by a small grain of tannin but with fine fluidity and I come back to this word again – precision.
2022 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Amoureuses La delicatesse les Sables…
‘The last, the clay is the baritone – this the sandy part is the alto – both with the same harvest date and yield and everything – exactly the same area under vine too – all done the same. The label with a different more embossed font ‘as there is more higher energy to this wine 😊’
More weight of aroma – there’s a different aromatic density today. So silky but with glossy energy too. Wide, beautifully mineral again. Holding with great depth of flavour.
And for the road, both served blind:
2004 Bonnes-Mares
Hmm – lots of red fruit with an accent of sous bois – probably at least 15 years old. Easy but with a good depth and width of concentrated finishing flavour that might be helped with a bit more energy. I don’t see a direct green note but it’s a 2004. Still some unready tannin but not so bad certainly herbed but clean and impressive finishing. I really like the shape of this…
1997 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Sentiers
I rather spoiled this test by joking – ‘ah the bottle looks like a 1997’ to which Nicolas replied ‘how did you know?’ OKay, we now knew it was a 1997 but what was it – one of the very last of the domaine.
Tertiary aromas but growing more and more perfumed in the glass. Beautiful, mineral, still with a small tannin – really some depth and still a nice fading acidity in this finish a wine that slowly gets narrower and narrower but then holds very long… it’s Chambolle Sentiers…