Gilbert et Christine Felettig – 2016

16.12.2017billn

Tasted in Chambolle-Musigny with Gilbert Felettig, 22 November 2017.

Domaine Henri Felettig (GAEC)
13 Rue Tilleuls
21220 Chambolle-Musigny
Tel: +33 3 80 62 40 66
www.domaine-felettig.com

Gilbert on 2017:
2017 – ahh – for us, in the head, it was a much more serene year. We had a good volume at harvest and almost more important, really very healthy grapes – a relaxing and less stressful year. We had 90 barrels of wine in 2016 – 190 in 2017! This year the bank will be happier to see me, why I could even sell a few grapes!

Gilbert on 2016:
2016 was very complicated. On average we had 60% less volume – it was worse in the Hautes Côtes where we lost 90%. We have compliments from people who taste and I can see that we have some good wines but we had to change our style of wine, for instance there are whole-clusters used in all our cuvées – 20-100% – just to have enough volume to vinify. I don’t really know this style so well as I’m a ‘destemmer’ – ​
in 2014 and 2015 I had made a few tests with whole-clusters so it wasn’t a shock, but it’s been a nice discovery! ​I’m not a big connoisseur of whole-clusters, but give me a Dujac Malconsorts and I’ll be happy!

“Three-quarters of the wines are now in tank, and some re still in barrel for bottling in January, but most will be done before Christmas. Some in barrel have only recently finished malo.

The wines…

This may well be a new departure for Gilbert, but the inclusion of stems has done no damage whatsoever to the quality of the wines here, in fact, these are some of the best wines I’ve ever tasted from the domaine. Well done!

 
2016 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Lots of grapes from the area of Chambolle and just a little from Premeaux too – Gilly has some great terroirs – less than 15 hl/ha with 20% wc. Mildew was also a factor here.
Deep colour and a nice freshness of dark red fruit. Bright, fresh some tannin but a generosity of deep fruit – the last drops in the glass are beautifully pure…

2016 Chambolle-Musigny
Usually around 20 different parcels in this assemblage but just 18 barrels from 3 hectares in 2016 – the last malo only completed in October. 30% new oak
Really a very fine depth. There’s structure but it’s finer here than in the bourgogne, with an extra purity of fruit – dark fruit again – layered in the finish – beautifully long. I love the fresh balance here. Delicious…

2016 Chambolle-Musigny Clos du Village Monopole
0.5 ha vinified separately monopole, ​planted by Gilbert’s parents about 40 years ago. This is near the church, the Antonin Guyon ‘Clos Villages’ is a continuation of Cras. 50% new oak.
A little extra floral dimension to the nose. More supple and wide – really more volume, a saline tannin – getting bigger in the finish – this is great. More complex, the last is delicious and easier but this has a little extra, and I really don’t detect the extra oak here.

2016 Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice
Deep, vibrant the first with some whole-cluster rose perfume. Delicious – directly! Fresh, sucrosity, lots of energy. Great tasting wine with modestly visible structure and eventually richness of flavour.

2016 Morey St.Denis En la Rue de Vergy
Fresh, spicy nose with a little oak spice. Like the last, directly fresh, complex, here a little more saline and in the depth a little oak too. Les direct finishing richness – more oak, in fact too much for today – so wait three years. There are no whole-clusters in this wine, the last drops in the glass are pure and inviting.

2016 Vosne-Romanée
From two parcels, 80% Jachées, and the rest from Chalandins
Wide, fresh, floral, relatively discreet but with fine depth. Again, attacks with sweet, fresh, delicious dark fruit – a little very fine tannin in the middle, long, a little structure but fine, melting dark fruit too. To wait for more than the others, but it will be worth it.

2016 Nuits St.Georges
2/3 from Premeaux – Chaillots – the rest from the Vosne side of Nuits – Lavières. “I was never happy with the individual cuvées, but they work really quite well together.”
Deep, faintly reduced. A little gas in this one, but once again a freshness of attack, dark fruit – more mid-palate tannin and a little spicy oak flavour too. Floral finishing. Good wine to keep!

2016 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Fuées
“Really a ripe parcel, the last harvested at 14.2° and 20-30% whole-clusters in the fermentation – I didn’t plan to pick so ripe, the maturity just came so fast. But this parcel always keeps its acidity.
Nice volume, with a pretty, if pinched, floral top note. Fresh, not particularly sweet, weight in the centre, plenty of oak spice. Not a wine that’s all together today, but it’s really great finishing and all the while with energy – lets see how this comes together.

All the previous wines were tasted from tank – now we move to the barrel cellar – Gilbert says that he likes new oak and uses 50% new for all his premier crus:

2016 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
“An interpretation of the catastrophe of 2016 – 13 hl from a 1.6 hectares, hence the blending – the fruit of a work and weather that was exceptional – 6 different 1ers. This will make plenty of magnums. 50% whole-cluster”
A concentrated but fresh width, just a little tight. Fine volume in the mouth – great presence – melting, saline-inflected, an attractive fine grain of tannin in the middle. Some modest oak flavour too. But concentrated, composed, delicious wine of almost grand cru depth – super, and so long…

2016 Chambolle-Musigny 1er les Carrières
Direction Chatelots next to village. Felettig are the only bottler; Herve Sigaut has just a little but it’s mixed with other 1ers, so Felettig don’t have a monopole. One part of this vineyard’s vines is over 60 years old.
Fresh, wide, a little barrel aroma. Faint gas, a richness of texture, slowly of flavour too. More tannin here, but fine and ripe. The finish is the best part, mouth-watering, slightly redder fruit… 100% whole-cluster – the last drops in the glass open with pretty red almost floral fruit.

2016 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Charmes
Ooh, deep, transparent, pure fruit. A little gas again, but purity of flavour and volume in the mouth. Mineral, the finishing flavour is just a little different, perfumed. Up until this point I think it great wine. Now I’m unsure, it’s impressive but really in a lilac style!

2016 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
This year a mix of 2/3rds Petits Monts, the rest is from Chaumes – a late mako for this one.
A large aromatic, fine fruit, just a little marked by reduction – also in the flavour. But there’s great volume here, with lots of complexity dovetailed with freshness. This will make a fine bottle, really long…

2016 Vosne-Romanée 1er Aux Reignots
The only wine with all new oak. They have 2 small old-vines parcels in Reignots, and bottle it separately when yields allow. In total this cuvée represents 0.095 ha.​
Nice aromatic volume, spicy but more from the wine than the wood – a soft fine fruit in the mix. Some oak flavour, but this wine is about length and complexity, the tannin is micro-grained, and then there’s a burst of flavour. Bravo! “This is the one wine in my cellar that I think needs more time than all the others.

​2016 Echézeaux
A small cuvée – enough for 2 barrels – from rented vines.
A really fine nose of high-toned complexity but width and depth too. A big punch of fresh, delicious, open sweet but pure fruit. A similar flavour to the Charmes – but what a wine – and clearly with more of everything – even after the very fine Reignots. Pure delicious fruit in the finish.

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