Tasted in Cheillyy-lès-Maranges with Pablo Chevrot, 05 October, 2022.
Domaine Chevrot et Fils
19 Route de Couches
71150 Cheilly-lès-Maranges
Tel: +33 3 85 91 10 55
www.chevrot.fr
More reports with Domaine Chevrot.
Pablo on 2021:
“I’m very happy with this year’s harvest – 2022 – but 2021 is easily the smallest of my career. The vines started growing early but after the bud-break the winter came back. We have a 1/3rd of a harvest – some of the 1er crus of Maranges you have to go back over 75 years to find such an important instance of frost but this vintage we had! So it’s the better vineyards that really suffered the most. Just the Bourgogne Aligoté will be bottled before the end of the year but for the rest, I won’t reduce my elevage time – The 1ers are less ready today – I’d say a few years in bottle to show themselves – so it will be next year before anything else is bottled. So far nothing has been racked or sulfured, either.”
The wines…
At this stage of elevage we have an exemplary range of reds but simply a great range of whites from Pablo and the team at Chevrot in 2021. I can’t recommend them highly enough!
2021 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Bottom of the hill in Maranges plus a parcel that would normally be used for cremant – but it was clear in 2021 that crémant wasn’t going to work.
A compact but still attractive nose. Supple, nicely shaped over the palate the silk of the vintage too. That’s already showing very, very well. Super!
Gravel soils all around the domaine. ‘Racked 3 weeks ago – now it’s starting to open again.’
A little more colour. A more vibrant and open nose, with darker-red fruit with more definition and clarity. Silky again – broad, mobile flavour, saline & mouth-watering – exquisitely balanced. Top BHCDB!
2021 Maranges Sur le Chêne
Redder fruit aromas, an impression of some CO2 in this nose. A little more direct, a little more structure, a small frame of tannin. Nicely juicy in the finish again. This will be simply excellent – all is in place.
2021 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 being on different sides of the village.
Darker fruit, some floral aspects here too – maybe some fermentation aromas still. Broad – structural like the last but less sleek and direct. A frame of tannin again – not more but almost a grain in this case. Dark fruit berries and juicy finishing. This and the last for keeping a short time but super.
2021 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Hautes Jarrons
First vintage – ‘it was chemically managed before so no matter how well you work to start with it clouds the message – but I think it’s a beautiful place and a proper 1er cru. We started conversion to organic right away so are already nearly finished with the second year.’
Higher toned quite stony aromas – faintly spiced too. Mouth-filling, serene, cool fruited, velvet textured. Finishing with a burst and some modest structure too. I like!
2021 Santenay 1er Clos Rousseau
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.’
Not full power but a breadth of captivating aroma. Structural for sure but such a juicily complex wine – an impression of the stems but without overt rose perfume. This is another wine with everything, only needing time for the constituent parts to meld together – as a minimum excellent…
2021 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. Close to the last but the soils are quite different” says Pablo.
Ooh – rounder and more overt clarity of darker red fuit with some floral perfume and faint barrel – that’s an invitation! Round, framed again with a little chalky tannin – no grain. Broad finishing and persistent. Another super result.
Plenty of colour here! Not quite 100% destemmed – ‘but it’s a naturally powerful area so less wc used here’ – about 20%.
Higher-toned and more intense red fruit here – that’s really inviting. Much more mineral and salivating, direct wine but not rushing you into the finish. Complex finishing – licorice, tobacco, and minerals, just a super thing – I think this will be great.
Only 1 barrel instead of 4-5 this year.
A fine width of violet-infused red fruit but just a little more compact than the previous aromas. Sleek, broad, insinuating, growing in intensity. Great class – be patient but also be rewarded – bravo!
Les whites:
Two thirds foudre the rest older barrels – normally this cuvée doesn’t see the barrels but in this vintage Pablo needed to find a use for his empty ones.
Deep, faintly mineral – great attack on this nose. Wide, steely, lovely intensity – this so juicy and über-drinkable. Bravo.
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.” Fermented in foudres since 2018.
Complex, mineral – not yet fully focused. A lot of gas today. But gorgeous citric acid, with a growth of fine intensity. 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! – but now about 1/3rd foudre elevage.
arrels and foudre for this. Almost a calmer version of the Tilleuils – today it has the focus that isn’t yet evident in the last. Serene, wide, pure and intense – bravo again.
1.6 ha but a blend of parcels ranging in vine age from 2017 to 1950 in this vintage. ‘Hotter and sunnier than the regionals before.’
A narrower but deeper nose – citrus skin, and some floral components. A totally different character – there’s volume but open in style rather than with impact. Beautiful mouthwatering clarity of flavour – another knockout white from Pablo!
Here with high limestone content. Under the Windmill direction Chassagne.
A more encompassing nose with some vibration of minerality and a background of some creamy oak. Honied first flavours then really vibrant, almost dynamic energy. Saline and juicy – the oak only showing right on the tip of the tongue. Top again…
2021 Santenay 1er Clos Rousseau Blanc
Fourth vintage since planting in 2013 – early vintages sold to négoce. ‘It’s principally a terroir for reds here but we had a parcel that never made decent red wine so we eventually replanted with white – and we’re happy that we did!’
The oak is a little more visible today – buttery even. More supple – richer – but still broad and mineral and so finely juicy. The oak hardly visible on the palate. Despite the extra richness this is another wine with a great future.
This part of the vineyard is ploughed using a cable-pulley as it’s so steep. “Very young vines here, just 11 years old. Planted at the top of the slope where there’s lots of limestone. One barrel instead of the usual 9!
A vibrant depth of minerality. Broad and juicily citrus-infused. Here is a bit more structure and intensity with successive waves of finishing flavour. Bravo!