Winemaker Notes
Almost always harvested last, the Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaut Saint Jacques Premier Cru will require a longer cellaring period in order to fully blossom. Notes of pepper, black fruits and minerality are the dominant flavors of this wine.
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
A young vineyard that's 80 years old in part', jokes Pierre Duroché about this cuvée, made up of six parcels planted between 1938 and 1981. Scented, pure and refreshing, it has bright, joyful fruit, crunchy acidity and a fine dusting of oak spice.
-
Jasper Morris
Picked from 6th September. Mid purple with lighter rim. A little reduction first up. Could it be brettanomyces? More a question of being reductive, I think. Sweet raspberry fruit, medium bodied but still delivers quite a kick at the end, medium acidity, few overt tannins, good length. Back in the raspberry and redcurrant line, again with the characteristic persistence of modern day Duroché. A slight doubt about the bouquet of this wine is responsible for the minor downgrading from previous experience with this vintage of Lavaut St-Jacques
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Performing well from bottle, the 2017 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaut Saint-Jacques reveals aromas of red berries, plums, potpourri, dark chocolate and rich soil tones, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping palate that's supple, succulent and open-knit, with a delicate core of fruit and melting tannins. Deceptively elegant, I would bet on this putting on appreciable weight with some time in bottle.
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.