Tasted in Gevrey-Chambertin, 16 November, 2017.
This was the seventh presentation by the Syndicat of Gevrey-Chambertin for new vintage – first done with the 2010s – you will find notes from all of those previous tastings in the back-pages of Burgundy-Report (here). The format was the same as each year, with a long line of wines disappearing off into the horizon – there were 99 wines listed in tasting, of which I managed to bag 80 before the time was up.
Because experience tells me that a number of the grand crus are gone by the time I have finished the ‘junior Gevreys,’ like last year I started with the grand crus, followed by 1ers, followed by the villages wines.
What of the wines?
- I felt some wines rather extracted this year – perhaps more obvious given the purity of 2016 fruit.
- The 1er crus performed proportionally the best – really a sweet spot here – though not to take away anything from either the GCs or the usual suspects in the villages.
- The new updated domaines really cemented the quality of their wines – Heresztyn-Mazini and Berthaut-Gerbet to the fore – but also great comeback mentions to both Drouhin-Laroze and Pierre Gelin – they are making great things now.
- Some of the old guard did great this year – Bruno Clair my favourite, but Pierre Damoy and Perrot-Minot were no slouches either. Then there was also Sylvie Esmonin, Alexandrine Roy (Domaine Marc Roy) and Jerôme Galeyrand with a range of great wines. There is much to savour in 2016.
- There is much to savour in Gevrey-Chambertin in 2016, and largely no frost means a very consistent level of attainment.
Part 1 – 29x Grand Crus…
Philippe Charlopin, Charmes-Chambertin
A big nose, but with quite a twist of toasty oak. Bright, lots of energy and depth of flavour – of course there’s oak in there too, but this has really an impressive depth with a great sweet line.
Rene Bouvier, Charmes-Chambertin
Less aromatic impact but with a modest floral element. Supple, deep, more overt tannin – though ultra-fine tannin. This expands on the palate getting wider and wider. Today, despite the oak, the Charlopin is an easier drink as it has no astringence.
Pierre Naigeon, Charmes-Chambertin
A little whole cluster perfume on this nose. Bright, wide, fresh and very floral. A perfumed wine, not the most concentrated yet its very intense. Super, but be patient!
A wide nose, faintly perfumed. Bright, beautifully textured, ultra-fine tannin and a little floral. Not a big wine, but a very beautiful one, despite a little oak in the finish.
There’s a hint of reduction here, but also lots of fresh complexity too. Cushioned but fresh, lots of ultra-fine tannin, a hint of smoke in the mid to finishing complexity. Absolutely delicious!
Humbert Frères, Charmes-Chambertin
A deep, sweet, toasty nose. Super-sleek, a wine of line and very fine texture this is really excellent with a fine and growing complexity – super wine.
Here is a perfume, pretty whole cluster roses. Wide, fresh more than a little mineral. Like the Charmes this is an elegant, complex wine, not a big wine – but it’s very much a delicious wine!
René Leclerc, Griotte-Chambertin
An attractive, modest, volume of aroma. Freshness and a nice depth of flavour, a little more rigour of structure in the middle, but this has a very nice, melting flavour. Excellent – and I don’t say that often with this producer!
A pretty width of aroma, but this is quite tight. Fresh, growing volume, very fine tannin but very little drag or astringence. Really lots of perfumed wine here in the mid-palate and finish – I think that this is really great!
Oof! What colour! A good volume of aroma of fresh, probably whole cluster notes and a subtle perfume to accompany dark fruit. Lovely. Big, bright layered, mouth-watering flavour without any blocky, heavy concentration. Great wine!
Rossignol-Trapet, Chapelle-Chambertin
A modest dimension of aroma – a little whole cluster. In the mouth plenty of whole cluster flavor, and delicious flavour too – long and engaging, but not the same clarity and energy as the last wines – today, at least. A great finish though.
Cecile Tremblay, Chapelle-Chambertin
A nice nose, decent volume and a slowly developing growth of pretty whole-cluster perfume. This sits somewhere between the last two wines in terms of texture and delivery of flavour. Excellent and just a little more smoky complexity in the finish.
Really a brighter fruit than all the other wines so far, very red, very fresh – slowly adding some attractive perfume. This has a cool fruit width, and great depth of texture. This gets better and better the more time you spend with it – the finish is gorgeous.
Trapet-Rochelandet, Ruchottes-Chambertin
Another completely different nose – deeper, more low-sulfur style of fruit. Round, fine cushioning from the tannin. A different flavour profile, maybe a hint reduced – I think (hope) this can improve…
Hmm, a nice complex nose here – not the biggest but really inviting. Fresh, cushioned like the last but with a beautiful and growing intensity of soft red fruit and beautiful purity. What a great wine! Massively better than their Chapelle today.
Philippe Charlopin, Mazis-Chambertin
A bright freshness of red fruit. Wide, nice depth, really a good depth of flavour coming in waves, slightly vanilla oaked. Voluptuous and tasty…
Jean-Michel Guillon, Mazis-Chambertin
A big, almost volatile freshness. This is very concentrated, bordering on too much for me. In fact too much.
Pierre Naigeon, Mazy-Chambertin
Hmm, whole cluster and oak. In the mouth, round, melting flavour, lots of depth but today, too much oak for me… Wait 10 years.
Rebourseau, Mazy-Chambertin
An attractive high-toned almost blue fruit here. Of good line and freshness, less refined tannin, but that’s not an issue in 15-20 years. Good quality in the finishing flavours. A really good wine.
Maume by Tawse, Mazis-Chambertin
A deep, fecund, slightly reduced nose. Lots of volume, a depth of tannin – really lots – so despite the fineness of grain there’s some astringency. But then melting favour – very impressive wine, and really concentrated too – but not losing the reduction on the palate today.
Tortochot, Mazis-Chambertin
This has a little toffee oak and some high tones – sill quite nice. Wide, very fresh, lacking fat vs all the others, and then there’s the astringent tannin – but the fruit is quite tasty. This tannin in the finish adds bitterness today though. For the patient.
Less width but a really impressive depth – the first like this. Wide, fresh, really concentrated, but less depth again. This is ultra complex and very tasty wine indeed. Just gorgeous finishing flavours. Bravo! In the end, this and the Perrot-Minot are probably my wines of the tasting.
Pierre Damoy, Chambertin Clos de Bèze
Some whole-cluster – this a little wild. Super fresh and fine-textured. A sleek and impressive wine. It’s a great finish, but that of the Clair is greater!
Drouhin-Laroze, Chambertin Clos de Bèze
Good depth, a little toasty, only very slowly opening and becoming nicely perfumed. Growing, more interesting flavour – the first impression was modest, but this is a wine that just keeps giving!
Nice volume and fruit but with a little reduction. Wide, fresh, really lots of flavour dimension, this has great energy and super complexity – a little coffee from the oak perhaps. As it calms and ages I think this will be a super wine! A forgotten but fine Bèze
Just a little reduction, but there’s a growing volume of dark red fruit too. Wide, transparent, beautiful freshness – this is like the Bruno Clair with a little more overall refinement. Just a beautiful wine – bravo!
Lots of aromatic volume, a suggestion of pyrazine in the complexity. Big, indeed more volume than the Bèze. Beautiful texture and a long slow wave of delicious flavour, slowly, slowly heading into the finish. Great wine!
Henri Rebourseau, Chambertin
A concentrated nose, almost a suggestion of extraction here. Fine volume in the mouth, plenty of tannin, with a little astringence, only in the finish does the fruit flavour get the chance melt beautifully, engagingly over the palate – Yum!
Rossignol-Trapet, Chambertin
A deep nose, some fine whole-cluster complexity. Good volume – as it should be. Lots of flavour but wrapped up in a little too much oak complexity.
Part 2 – 32x Premier Crus…
Bright open fruit, perhaps with a suggestion volatility today. Round, juicy, penetrating, fabulous flavour. The nose will come around – Bravo!
More composed and with a beautiful depth of fruit. A little brighter a little more structured, also absolutely delicious but balanced by more structure than the Cazetiers. Another great wine!
Rene Bouvier, Fontenys
A wide nose with a tight but attractive freshness of fruit. More overt concentration – more a grand-cru delivery of flavour and weight of flavour. Very tasty, indeed delicious flavour. But more structure than the last two. Very tasty indeed!
A hint smoky, but this is a hyper-attractive nose. Round, layers of gorgeous flavour, long, achingly long. Great wine – Bruno is knocking it out of the park this year…
Bruno Clair, Cazetiers
I’m surprised that this follows the last, but hey.. This has an extra freshness of aroma, a little more herb – certainly not as comely as the CSJ. Extra power though, extra density – the CSJ is so much more elegant, but this packs a punch!
Drouhin-Laroze, Clos Prieur
Lots of freshness here. This tastes much better than the nose suggests to me. Wide, plenty of concentration and a slowly growing, slowly tastier flavour – like the grand crus this gets better and better with time – but I feel it needed to!
Duroché, Lavaux St.Jacques
A lot of interesting freshness of dark fruit – some extraction – like this I hardly care. Fresh, intense, good dimension of flavour. Really excellent!
Sylvie Esmonin, Clos St.Jacques
A little too much reduction on the nose today. Bright, fresh, intense and brilliantly complex – such a winner of a wine – but the reduction marks all today…
Dominique Gallois, Combe aux Moines
A modest volume of aroma, but all the same there’s very pretty, and silky fruit. Some structural impression in the mid-palate but here it’s pure, fresh and alive – what a great wine!
A good depth of fruit on the nose. Freshness, and a good width of very fine fruit – and other flavours! This is really a super wine – bravo! That’s another great wine from Gelin!
Some extraction here, but a really lovely high-toned note too. Fine in the mouth, concentrated, fresh, growing with intensity, and really a widening of flavour towards the finish. Delicious!
Harmand-Geoffroy, Lavaux St.Jacques
A deep nose – possibly a blend of both oak and reduction – but not too much. Lots of volume, a good texture – the tannin does start to surface in the mid-palate – lots of wine, for the patient, but good stuff!
Open with a nice freshness, but the aromas are actually not so forthcoming to start – slowly an attractive floral note comes through. Mouth-filling, fresh, some tannin but really great flavour too – this is really for the patient, but it’s a super wine!
Heresztyn-Mazini, Champonnets
Rather like the last, the nose starts quite reticently. Big, structure, even more astringent tannin, but also fine fruit – here with a whole-cluster infection. Lovely wine, again, patience!
A little oak but also plenty of attractive fresh fruit too. Rounder, but with a melting intensity, and a granular complexity suffused in the tannin. This I like very much – you can see the work in the cuverie, but it’s anyway delicious.
Aromatically like the last with an added twist of sweetness. Again, very similar to the last, perhaps just a twist more of structure, but then the tasty flavour comes. It’s so similar, I guess I have to recommend it too!
Rene Leclerc, Lavaux St.Jacques
A more open and fresher nose. Fresher on the palate too. The fruit is very good, the structure just a little more rustic. But some fine flavour here.
François Leclerc, Les Corbeaux
A nice width of fresh flavour. Tighter below. Big, lots of concentration, lots of complexity too though. Slowly becoming more composed in the mid-palate. Hard to start, very tasty to finish – just have some patience, because it’s a great finish.
Philippe Leclerc, Combe aux Moines
A nice blend of floral and wood. Big in the mouth but with lots of melting flavour complexity – plenty of structure but this will just get better and better as the oak fades. Excellent!
Philippe Leclerc, Cazetiers
A little tighter nose, more floral, and more modest below. Lots of freshness but only working its way through plenty of structure. This is impressive, and certainly harder today the the previous CaM. I think equally fine though.
An open and pretty freshness of aroma. Lots of volume, lots of complexity – this is really quite something – bravo – fortunately the wines are (far!) better than their labels.
Denis Mortet, Lavaux St.Jacques
A wide freshness, just a hint of pyrazine but a lovely fresh fruit too. Big, really big fresh volume on the palate – mouth-watering. A little finishing oak. Excellent.
Hmm, this fruit is a beauty – almost vibrant. Bright, fresh, complex – layers of fine flavour, couched in, rather than dominated by, a great structure. Great wine!
This is big open and so wow – can this really be Thierry? Round, beautiful texture layers of flavour – I’m perplexed by the turnaround at this domaine – but this is top class!!!
A nice width of fresh and complex aroma. Quite some volume in the mouth. A very nice, and very tasty volume at that. This is excellent with lots of concentration, and a great finish – bravo!
Pierre Naigeon, Lavaux St.Jacques
A lovely and wide, nice whole cluster perfume. A big wine in the mouth. Complex, lots of fine flavour. This is an excellent wine to have a little patience with.
Philippe Rossignol, Les Corbeaux
Wide, fresh and attractive. The palate with ingraining, growing flavour. This is simply super.
Here is a nice and wide freshness. Like the last from Philippe the palate here reflect the nose, with width and a slowly melting and delicious flavour. Layers and layers. This is a little beauty.
Serafin, Fontenys
A weight of aroma, the higher tones are little more barrel than fruit. Lots of volume, and growing intensity of flavour too. This is a concentrated wine, well the oak is concentrated – which means for me a little too much today – but this wine isn’t for today. This should be excellent for the patient.
Maume by Tawse, Champeaux
A nice width. Lovely in the mouth, this has a lovely fresh complexity but backed by depth of flavour. This is super delicious!
Varoilles, La Romanée
A good width – fresh and a little floral. Intense and becoming more intense – today this just avoids being too much, but the pure fruit melts form the core and is very tasty indeed. Lovely…
Varoilles, Clos de la Varoilles
This nose has volume but is less open than the last, only slowly this adds a very attractive floral component. Extra width and extra depth of flavour. A similar intensity, but a more cushioned intensity so its easier to enjoy. Again, this is really excellent!
Part 3 – 19x Village Wines…
Berthaut-Gerbet
Really a lovely floral width. Florals on the palate too. The structure has a little the ascendency today but the flavour behind is delicious.
René Bouvier, Racine du Temps
A tight nose, but with an attractive freshness above. Wide, tannic, lots of flavour, but it’s battling the structure today. Tasty in the finish though.
Nicolas Burguet
Higher toned, but maybe a little sulfur – bright fruit behind though. Lots of structure, like the last, only slowly the fruit flavour makes the wine more supple and tasty. Very good fruit and texture.
Alain Burguet, Mes Favorites
Just a little more fruit intensity on the nose. A wine of line, a complex wine, but today its flavour is not my favourite.
Philippe Charlopin, Vieilles-Vignes
A good and open freshness of aroma – a good depth too. Good freshness, not too much structure, yet the fruit is just a little less delicious than most of the previous wines. It’s a good finish though…
Clos St. Louis, Etelois
A pretty freshness, but this is quite a tight nose. Good fruit, plenty of structure, getting wider and more mouth-watering. Very tasty wine, and not a bit overwhelmed by the structure…
Domaine Chevalier
A fresh, very faintly herby nose. Supple, wide, mouth-watering flavour. For this producer, I find this very good indeed. Just an ounce of texture and fine finishing flavour…
Ooh – what a vibrant and attractive nose – I assume maybe a little reduction behind this performance, but it’s not overt. Depth of tasty flavour, flashes of bright pure fruit. Structured but super.
Drouhin-Laroze, En Champs
Hmm, a suggestion of spice here – very engaging. Mouth-filling, structured but with a lovely fruit – layers in the finish. A really well-done villages. Super wine.
Not the most overt nose, but a nose of cushioned perfume. Fresh, complex, really many dimensions of flavour. This is a really great wine – bravo!
Jerôme Galeyrand, La Justice
Ooh – overt, bright, perfumed whole cluster wine – yes! Round, perfumed fruit on the palate too, a delicious finish. Simply excellent.
Jerôme Galeyrand, Billard
A little more intensity of aroma – almost a little volatile today. But wide, fabulous flavour fruit. Gorgeous wine …
Brilliant nose! Vibrant, delicious fruit. In the mouth too – this is a fruit flavour that can reach over the structure and make such a delicious flavour. Bravo…
A modest nose but of good width. Good sweetness and a very fine texture. Slowly melting flavour from the core. Hard to follow the last wine, but this almost pulls it off – great wine.
A little more aromatic dimension. More volume than the last, more fine structure too – the fruit only very slowly taking some control – what a wine – for the patient.
The nose seems a little pushed here. But what a width of flavour across the palate – cool fruit, and impossibly ultra-fine tannin. The finish is great, simply great. Great, extremely refined, Gevrey-Chambertin!
Pierre Gelin, Clos de Meixvelle
A deep nose, of darker-red fruit. A fresher wine, less overtly concentrated but with a very engaging fruit. This is one of the easiest Gevery’s to drink/taste today – and it’s very tasty!
Jean-Michel Guillon, Vieilles-Vignes
Here a little vanilla oak on the nose. Good volume and good freshness too – less ripeness but this is very attractive all the same..
Hmm – lovely width of aroma, though a more subtle depth. Really a nice texture combined with depth of flavour here – this is a really super villages wine – classy, and delicious – bravo!