Tasted in Gevrey-Chambertin, 14 November, 2019.
Welcome to the ninth presentation by the Syndicat of Gevrey-Chambertin of new vintage – the first tasting was done for 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. As usual, there were over 100 wines, in 9 years I may have finished them all just once – it is really an exercise in speed-tasting.
I always begin with the grand crus, otherwise, they are gone by the time I reach that end of the ‘table.’ This year due to another appointment, I’m sorry to say that I didn’t have much opportunity to taste much beyond those grand crus.
What of the wines?
- Only a couple of samples that I thought ‘suspect’ – ie poor and unrepresentative of the final wine.
- The grand crus – except where there was too much oak or reduction (Charlopin both…) – were very consistent to both domaine and vintage styles.
- The wines were, of course, dark coloured but seemed true to their roots
- Bruno Clair and Pierre Damoy had great wines again – in two completely different styles – Perrot-Minot excelled too!
- Gevrey-Chambertin in 2018 has many excellent wines – importantly they reference their origin, and better than some other villages acheived in this vintage.
Part 1 – 31x Grand Crus…
2018 Perrot-Minot, Mazoyères-Chambertin
Faint toast, faint but cushioned fruit aroma. Supple, beautiful shape, layered, complex and saline – a little graphite complexity. This is really super for the vintage.
More floral than the last – probably the stems. Nice freshness, and sweetness a more driving than round flavour profile. Open and delicious. Bravo!
2018 Taupenot-Merme, Mazoyères-Chambertin
Also a nice, open aromatic freshness. Whole cluster flavour, nice width, open and tasty wine. Super length.
2018 Pierre Bourée, Charmes-Chambertin
A little pyrazine floral here – but vibrant. Mouth-filling, granular style to the texture but with whole-cluster energy and flavour.
2018 René Bouvier, Charmes-Chambertin
Some wc on the nose. Cool, nice drive – the freshness fruit with wc. Tasty wine.
2018 Philippe Charloppin, Charmes-Chambertin
Reduced, oaked nose. Beautiful shape on the palate though – despite the reduction. Super-fine grain of tannin and wide.
2018 Dominique Gallois, Charmes-Chambertin
More intense, almost volatile sample. But nice in the mouth, open and fresh with a little structure. But the dark fruit is not that appealing – a poor sample…
2018 Humbert Frères, Charmes-Chambertin
Dark colour. The nose a little deep and reductive – a baby Charlopin! Lots of dimension to the flavour though – mouth-filling and nicely open. Coffee-toast-oak in the finish.
2018 Pierre Naigeon, Charmes-Chambertin
A yeasty nose – unattractive. Swirling cleans it up a lot – wc low sulfur? Round, comfy texture, very fine grain. A pretty wc finish. A wine that keeps getting better and better.
A subtle nose but attractive. Fresh, much nicer drive and shape than the Mazoyères. This is delicious, textural and fresh. Bravo!
2018 Taupenot-Merme, Charmes-Chambertin
Less colour. A modest intensity nose, but pretty all the same. Nicely fresh, a good line here, mouth-watering. Fine finishing. Excellent.
2018 Tortochot, Charmes-Chambertin
A little oak, a little reduction, but a lot more whole cluster – very aromatic. Plenty of super-fine tannin, but width, concentration and quite good freshness. More obviously to wait for, but excellent.
Hmm – pure, pure fruit – a rare bird in 2018. Open, complex, saline, just lovely, lovely. Bravo!
2018 Faiveley, Latricières-Chambertin
A compact nose but very floral in the depth. More structural than the last wines until the fruit and texture slowly catch up. Very faint grain. Wide and tasty. Excellent wine.
2018 Rossignol-Trapet, Latricières-Chambertin
A little toasty oak in the width of this nose. In the flavour too. But the shape is round and easy. Not what I expect from this vineyard – simple and coffee inflected – only the finish is showing a bit of class today. Poor sample?
2018 Remy, Latricières-Chambertin
Not a big nose, but one of elegant, inviting fruit. Full, plenty of fine tannin, a little more direction and mouth-watering flavour than the RT.
A dark fruit, energetic and not a bit volatile despite its assured ripeness. Hmm, that’s fresh and interesting, so finely textured. Layered, ripe for sure, but not an ounce of ‘over’ – bravo – even a little creamy finishing.
2018 Rossignol-Trapet, Chapelle-Chambertin
The oak is there, but much less invasive compared to their Latricières – behind is whole-cluster perfume and a little shimmer of pure fruit. Very fine texture, good freshness, pretty whole cluster flavour and a great length. Excellent.
A faint reduction but behind is a growing perfume. Wide, mouth-filling but also melting with flavour. Today it’s 80% about the structure – but über-fine grained in texture. Be patient but this is very fine – bravo!
2018 Philippe Charlopin, Mazis-Chambertin
Nose – Oaky, slightly reductive. Palate – Oaky, slightly reductive. The finish is the best part.
2018 Harmand Geoffroy, Mazis-Chambertin
Wide, some texture – fruited, not much oak – this is a reasonable invitation. Hmm, now that’s interesting in the mouth – fresh, nice and open, no fat. Certainly a little oak in the flavour. The shape is lovely and the finish is great – excellent 2018.
2018 Philippe Naddef, Mazis-Chambertin
Some coffee oak on the nose. Concentrated but still fresh, very fine tannin. Good driving style – today more about oak than you or I might like – but in 5 years this could be super…
Wide, faintly saline nose – modest intensity but finely packaged. Super texture, the structure domination but with no hard edges – like a more sophisticated Naddef showing a little more fruit. Bravo.
2018 Perre Bourée, Clos de Bèze
A little pyrazine again from them but it’s a nicely complex nose. Big in the mouth, freshness but framed with fine but slightly dry tannin. Good wine.
2018 Drouhin-Laroze, Clos de Bèze
On the ripe side but also reasonably airy. Supple, concentrated, layered flavour – a little tannic bitterness. Good finishing.
2018 Pierre Damoy, Clos de Bèze
Lots of colour, lots of ripeness. But again nothing crossing the line to volatile. Big, decent energy, complex – very complex – Less together than the Chapelle – I don’t know where this is going but all the parts impress.
2018 Pierre Gelin, Clos de Bèze
Wide, here’s a pretty and fine complexity of aroma – faintly spiced. Supple, concentrated, a little oaked, but with a good finish.
Not a lot of aromatic energy, but this is nicely floral. Fine shape an intense fruit, very ripe but also very red-fruited – a rare combination, Delicious. Not the longest Bèze but still one of the best at this stage – bravo!
A little compact but this is a silky nose. Round, layered, voluptuous but still with fresh energy – that’s a lovely balancing act – bravo!
2018 Rossignol-Trapet, Chambertin
No oak, fine purity of wc fruit. Open, complex, plenty of structural elements but this is nicely fresh. Super finishing intensity. Excellent Chambertin.
Hmm, now that’s a round, complex, floral nose – super. Nice volume – open, easy but with very fine definition to all – there’s no oak spoiling things, just a complex, slowly mouth-watering delivery of first-class flavour. Bravo (Pricing is another matter altogether)
Part 2 – A selection from favourite growers:
2018 Berthaut-Gerbet, Gevrey-Chambertin Combe Dessus
A width of freshness here – very inviting. Round, supple, just some modest padding, layered in the finish. Completely delicious villages.
2018 Galeyrand, Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice
Hmm, that’s pretty. Supple, layered, lively – super flavour – just a faint grain of tannin creeping in in the middle
Extra wc perfume. More depth to the finer texture too – this is certainly a step up. Bravo!
2018 Galeyrand, Gevrey-Chambertin Les Croisettes
A tighter nose but one that implies concentration all the same. Full, plenty of fine structure, a little saline. And long. More villages de garde here, but the finish is lovely.
2018 Marc Roy, Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes
A little pungent reduction here. Depth to this texture, and very fine-grained. Tasty finishing with almost a little chocolate.
2018 Marc Roy, Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Prieur
Fainter reduction. Mouthfilling, nice energy here. Long and tasty – there’s a good level of fruit clarity here. Yum!
2018 Marc Roy, Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée Alexandrine
There’s still a tiny reduction here, but this is a wine that’s showing some lovely high-toned complexity. Wide, open, energy and lots of tasty finishing complexity. This is excellent.
2018 Nicolas Burguet, Gevrey-Chambertin
That’s very high toned, but not quite volatile. Mouth-filling energetic wine – yes there’s ripe fruit behind, but this is a nicely driving style. Good wine – particularly in 2018!
2018 Bruno Clair, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Clos St.Jacques
Composed, perfumed with wc. This is a bundle of energy – it’s ripe but it’s accented with so many little complexities. Excellent, perhaps even better!
There are 2 responses to “2018 Roi Chambertin”
2019s from Humbert Frères just hit the shelves at my area. There seems to be little information about this domaine on the Internet compared to most Burgundy domaines. Any idea why Bill? Do they make wines anywhere close to the level of their cousins, Claude and Bernard Dugat? Thanks!!
Very few domaines make wines like the Dugats. I used to find Humbert wines a little too oaky for my palate – but not in recent vintages. They are good producers, not ‘star’ producers…
Thanks Bill! A few crus from La Gybriotte, the négociant label of Claude Dugat, have also just hit the shelves. Know which one to get now… 🙂