Winemaker Notes
The fruit for this wine comes from vineyard parcels that lie approximately 886 feet to 919 feet in elevation in Mazoyères-Chambertin and the upper portion of Charms. Grapes are sourced from two adjoining climats: Aux Charmes and Mazoyères ou Charmes.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
The mostly whole-cluster fruit is fermented with a very gentle extraction to produce this surprisingly dark wine, with impressive blackberry and plum fruit scented with peonies. On the palate the wine is firmly tannic, with surprising density and extract that lead to a pleasantly persistent finish. Lovely. Produced from four parcels spread between Charmes and Mazoyères that total 0.7ha.
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Jasper Morris
Racked to tank in preparation for bottling. A bright crimson colour, showing the whole bunches more on the nose, strawberries and white pepper. Fills the mouth, nothing dry here, and nothing too rich. The strawberry flavours fill nicely to the back of the mouth.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
James Suckling
Plenty of power to this with wild raspberry and mulberry aromas alongside licorice, cocoa powder, crushed rock and a touch of walnuts. It’s medium- to full-bodied, sturdy yet refined, with a firm and fine tannin frame. Savory and structured.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is one of the chunkier, more muscular wines in the range. Revealing aromas of raspberries, cassis, exotic spices, orange rind and loamy soil, it's full-bodied, deep and tightly wound, with lively acids, youthfully chewy tannins and a long, floral finish.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
This small village is home to the Grands Crus in the farthest northerly stretches of Côte de Nuits and is famous for some of the deepest and firmest Burgundian Pinot Noir.
Gevrey boasts nine Grands Crus, the best of which are arguably Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. As with all of the fragmented vineyards of Burgundy, it isn’t easy to differentiate between the two, which are situated adjacent with Clos de Bèze slightly further up the hill than Le Chambertin. Clos de Bèze has a shallower soil and if you’re really counting, may produce wines less intense but more likely to charm. Some compare Le Chambertin in both power and plentitude only to the prized Romanée-Conti Grand Cru farther south in Vosne-Romanée.
Two other Grands Crus vineyards, Mazis-Chambertin (also written Mazy-) and Latricières-Chambertin command almost as much regard as Le Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. The upper part of Mazy, called Les Mazis Haut is the best and Latricières-Chambertin offers an abundance of juicy fruit and a silky texture in the warmer vintages.
Other Grands Crus are Ruchottes-Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Mazoyères-Chambertin, Griotte-Chambertin and Chapelle-Chambertin.
The most respected Pinot Noir wines from Gevrey-Chambertin are robust and powerful but at the same time, velvety and expressive: black fruit, black liquorice and chocolate come into play. After some time in the bottle, the wines are harmonious with bright and sometimes candied fruit, and aromas of musk, truffle and forest floor. These have staying power.