Tasted in Gevrey-Chambertin with Nicolas Rossignol, 27 November 2018.
Domaine Rossignol-Trapet
4 Rue de la Petite Issue
21220 Gevrey-Chambertin
Tel: +33 3 80 51 87 26
www.rossignol-trapet.com
Nicolas on 2018:
“2018 started with a Spring that was warm and wet, so was very complicated for organic farming, but there was nice and dry weather essentially for the rest of the summer. It’s a vintage like 2003 or 2009, no triage, but we had to do some green harvesting as we also did in 2017. We started Tuesday 4th September finished the 11th September.”
Nicolas on 2017:
2017 was another very early Spring, and compared to 2018 was easier from the perspective of cultivation. So quite an easy vintage with only a couple of very hot days, generally dry, with a couple of welcome storms for the rain. Frost did touch on a couple of tiny parcels but essentially next to nothing was lost. Lots of straw was burnt on the route des grand crus – certainly it was borderline. We used about 60% whole-clusters in the vintage. Of-course there was a good volume of grapes but with correct maturity too – the acidity is not so high but the wines show well. We started harvesting just 3 days later than in 2018.
“I find a really great differentiation of the parcels in this vintage. No pigeage, just some delestage and remontage in 2017.”
The wines…
2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
From Grand Champs in the bottom of Gevrey
Dark cherry – attractive. Bright, incisive, great line, energetic and intense – who said no acidity? Really very good but not for acid averse!
2017 Beaune 1er Teurons
From the high slopes near Cras, ‘the wine’s more like a Cras than a Teurons!’ Bottling in 1 month.
Deeper. Darker, a nose touched by reduction but also with more volume. Equally fresh, but the acidity is less pressing as the bourgogne. Wide, long, very long. Super Beaune.
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles-Vignes
Between 45-75 years from various parcels in 3 sectors. Racked last week, bottling in a little more than a month.
Ooh – a broader nose, starting to offer some whole-cluster perfume. Extra depth and concentration, beautifully fresh, layered, slightly saline-inflected. Long. A wine that combines fine depth of flavour with a little tension. More than excellent!
2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos Prieur
This still in barrel, about 30% new…
A nose very similar to the last, but deeper. More width, more depth of concentration – there is more here except for clarity and energy today, for that I would certainly take the latter wine ahead of this for now. But such a finishing weight of lingering flavour – great potential if it cleans up as it should!
Richer, deeper soil with more clay than the last wine. Since 2003, no pigeage with this wine. ‘In dry vintages like 2017 the clay here holds on very well to the moisture.’
A fine nose – open but much less volume than the last two. More direct, but with depth, practically a blend of the previous two in the flavours, and an extra something in the finish too – alround bravo!
The grand crus were racked in March, Nicolas is planning to bottle next Spring. Elevage for these has about 40% new wood, maybe a hint more.
The three grand-crus that follow are all borderline Excellent – Great.
2017 Latricières-Chambertin
Quite a cold area under the forest so normally the last parcel to be harvested. 0.75 hectares right in the centre of the vineyard.
Less deep but a super wide nose, ooh then there’s a fabulous perfume – where did that come from? Full, depth of flavour, concentrated, beautiful texture, floral finishing too – ooh what a beauty!
2017 Chapelle-Chambertin
For us a warmer, more sunny area, closer to the rock. Only about 40cm of soil before the rock, but the vines are old – from the 1920s – and didn’t suffer from the dryness. We are only domaine with vines in both Gemeaux and Les Chapelle, and the soils are different – the soil is much deeper in Gemeaux.
Hmm a round and concentrated nose, a touch tight here. More weight but surprisingly more freshness and energy too – concentrated dark cherry, even finer textured than Latricières. Vibrant but fruit stone finishing, almost a Gevrey earth here. Big wine, worth waiting for – I should also mention that it’s delicious too!
2017 Chambertin
Just from Chambertin, 1.6 hectares from two parcels, right in the middle of the appellation.
A tightness in the depth, but this nose is a little more Latricières style than Chapelle. Directly more mineral, the weight of the Chapelle but more open. An extra touch, a grain, to the tannin but textural without astringency. Very mineral finishing, only here starting to hint at some floral elements.
And to finish:
2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Petit Chapelle
Wide, silky, modest depth, not a super open nose. Ooh, that combination of weight, texture but also freshness. Lots of little but insistent waves of finishing flavour. Already a really excellent glass!