Tasted in Cheilly with Pablo Chevrot, 27 October, 2020.
Domaine Chevrot et Fils
19 Route de Couches
71150 Cheilly-lès-Maranges
Tel: +33 3 85 91 10 55
www.chevrot.fr
More reports for Domaine Chevrot.
Pablo on 2020:
“The paradox was that this was a vintage that was very early but not due to heat, rather the ‘softness’ of the winter so everything started very early. It remained quite cool in the nights so the growth cycle until the end of June was relatively long. The winter was very wet – fortunately – but April onwards it was really very, very dry. There was a little rain in June and the flowering was okay – though better for the reds. July-August was dry again, warmer too. 40-50 mm in August which was very helpful – further north they didn’t get that, so we could harvest a decent volume. We were quite happy; the degrees are high but the acidity is also good. Just the whites were a little lower in volume and that was the less good flowering conditions. We had the chance to do lots of domaine renovation in this year too…”
Pablo on 2019:
“Just a few whites are bottled. It’s a small volume vintage for whites, but okay for the reds. We had a little extra rain here again compared to much of the Côte d’Or. I’ve been trying to refine the whites – they have always been tasty but I’m aiming for just a little more precision when young – I think the 19s area good step in that direction.”
The wines…
Whilst the aligotés soar with quality, the style of the reds here in 2019 is open, fresh and mouth-watering yet with depth of flavour too. It’s another great range following on from the great 2018s. Last year I suggested you would do better to buy Maranges instead of Chambolle – hand on heart I can’t say that for 2019 – but the quality remains top-notch here.
First two whites are sealed with DIAM5:
Just a couple of weeks in bottle
Hmm, that’s a lovely freshness, a vibration of fresh fruit – lovely. Wide, melting, a super spine of insistent, acid-led flavour. Simply delicious finishing with just a small suggestion of rigour from the structure but that could be the bottling. That’s super finishing too. Bravo.
The Hautes Côtes here are not really so ‘Haut’ as they are the same altitude as many villages appellations. Always with elevage in barrel – usually!
A more freshly floral nose. Supple, floral-infused but so deliciously, lusciously, flavoured. The faintest touch of barrel in the finishing flavours. A finishing intensity that shows a faint accent of oak today. Different in style, perhaps even more delicious. Bravo.
2019 Maranges Blanc
1.12 ha and 6 different parcels. Base of hillsides of Maranges. Bottled. Cork for this ndtech – ‘I get much more pleasure from wines sealed with cork.’
Just a little more textural cushion to this nose. More intense, more depth to the texture and flavour. Full finishing – that’s great – young but oh-so-tasty – all these whites deserve at least 6 months of patience after the bottling…
2019 Santenay Comme Dessous Blanc
Here with high limestone content. This to be bottled in spring, currently, it’s in tank. At 14.5% the highest of the domaine in 2019.
A deeper, meaner nose – there’s some reduction at play here. More supple depth and certainly more concentrated flavour. A rich style of flavour but with a super, mouth-watering, completely balanced finish with delicious flashes of attractive mineral flavour. So tasty finishing…
2019 Santenay 1er Clos Rousseau Blanc
Second vintage since planting in 2013 – early vintages sold to négoce.
Deep, also less ready like the last but a little more inviting. More mouth-filling, a golden fruit, layers of fine flavour – that’s an even better finish – that’s excellent. So delicious finishing and interestingly complex. Super!
This part of the vineyard is ploughed using a cable-pulley as it’s so steep. “Very young vines here, just 10 years old. Planted at the top of the slope where there’s lots of limestone.
Not yet bright this one. A little more compact nose yet there’s still a freshness here. Extra impact, extra acidity, ooh that’s lovely! A wine that lights up the palate, finishing with much more salinity and agrume-style fruits. Long, This will be great Maranages.
This is usually a barrel selection as there are about 6 barrels which are slowly whittled down to 2 or 3. The rest for the standard cuvée of aligoté. “Ploughed by horse, long elevage and (there will be) no fining or filtration.” There was no wine in 2016…
A narrower but deep nose – vertical! All is delicately in place – a nose of some purity. Today driving, deliciously balanced, such fine acidity. A wide finishing wave of excellence in the finish. As so often, a great wine here.
Les Reds:
The only red that’s bottled – 2 weeks. ‘Normally just from the bottom of the hills in Maranges but as we made less crémant in 19, there’s some of this different hilly sector included too. About 20% whole cluster in here.’
A nose that’s a little compact today but there is some clarity of darker berry fruit. Ooh, that’s super in the mouth – lots of volume, but airy and energetic – lots of fine, pure fruit flavour. Finishing intensity and a width of mouth-watering flavour – bravo Bourgogne!
2019 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beaune
Gravel soils all around the domaine. ‘Racked 3 weeks ago – now it’s starting to open again.’
Plenty of colour – just like the previous. Deeper, weightier aroma, faintly spiced and also faintly reductive. Hmm, more concentrated yet it’s a wine that’s still got direction, and a very fine texture – less bubbling with energy but there’s energy here all the same. More concentrated in the finish, slightly graphite minerality here. Today more delicacy versus the previous wine, but this remains an excellent mouthful of pinot.
Also a little compact, but this nose shows some elegant higher tones and eventually a little Christmas spice too. Fresh, wide, – oh that’s so good! Cool fruit, a little touch of tannin texture – but no grain. Growing in intensity, lots of salinity. A wine that grows over the palate. Just a beauty – bravo villages!
2019 Santenay
2 parcels, Charmes and Poirons blended, one Chassagne-side of old degenerated vines, the other nearer Maranges, roughly equal sizes. They have similar geology despite on different sides of the village.
Here’s a less ‘ready’ nose – deep, considered some higher tones escaping – but not yet in place. Bright and fresh like the last – that’s simply super! The tannin jumps up in quantity but again with no perceptible grain. Long, long, minerally long, only here is a suggestion of the stems. This will be super wine but needs just a bit more time to coalesce.
Rocky not much clay. Grand and Petit Clos Rousseau, ‘we’re replanting some of the petit clos to white and it’s good, the red was always behind that of the grand clos… This a blend of the two. There are many geological faults in this vineyard and it’s a big vineyard – you can find everything.’
Deep with spice, fine higher tones too – a wine that’s already more together. In this case a little more perfumed and elegant – gorgeous – super energy. I love a great Clos Rousseau – and here is one! Lots of finishing intensity including a little spice – a great finish!
2019 Maranges 1er Le Fussière
Plenty of colour here! Not quite 100% destemmed – ‘but it’s a naturally powerful area so less wc used here’ – about 20%. This has been racked, but back into barrel.
A deep, cushioned, dark-fruited nose. More mouth-filling and there’s more depth to this flavour too. There’s a suggestion of tannic grain framing the flavours – a little oak in there too. Mouth-staining finishing flavour. Quite a big wine but still quite a wine.
2019 Maranges 1er Clos Roussots
Pablo notes “It’s a hard vineyard to cultivate as the top and bottom parts have permeable soil, but the middle is all clay. ‘I think it will take a little time to bring equilibrium to the vines which we’ve had since 2013.
Here the nose is slightly diffuse – faintly spiced. Mouth-filling, finer-textured – a fine combination of intensity but not insistent acidity. Really wide, a wine that despite the fresh style is a little contemplative. Still much elevage to finish here, but extra-long finishing…
Like all of these, impressively deep colour. Wide, with depth of aroma too – that’s quite impressive if not yet quite open. Mouth-filling freshness, layers of fine flavour, perfumed fruit – classy fruit. Mouth-watering, there’s energy and contemplation in equal measure here. Bravo for sure. What a wine.