Winemaker Notes
Originating from the "Aux Charmes" terroir, this wine is a perfect combination of finesse, elegance and smoothness.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
The Durochés have two plots by Griotte-Chambertin, on very limestone soil, and two small alluvial plots in lower Charmes close to Mazoyères, all fermented together. Dense mid purple, there is more concentration here, plenty of charming fruit up front but with more backbone than sometimes. Fine balance between fruit, tannin and acidity, with a clean long finish where the fruit keeps growing. Some eggs in use as well as barrels here. Drink from 2030-2037.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Vinous
The 2023 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru has gained a little more complexity on the nose since I tasted it from barrel. It retains that pencil shaving scent intertwined with black plummy fruit, a bit more Mazoyères in style than before. The palate is very well balanced with finely tuned tannins, plush mouthfeel and a svelte texture. As I wrote before, it feels like there is slightly less acidity than other cuvées, but it retains balance with a very harmonious finish that is pure Charmes. Superb.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is very charming, unfurling in the glass with aromas of cherries, berries, sweet spices and incense. Medium to full-bodied, supple and fleshy, it's bright and sensual, with a soft, giving profile, wearing its heart on its sleeve.
Barrel Sample: 91-93
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.