Winemaker Notes
This very small cru is located immediately under Clos de Bèze, practically at the place where it adjoins Chambertin. The slope is very rugged and its microclimate is undoubtedly the hottest of the grands crus, with a lead of 5 to 6 days compared to Chambertin.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru, which is raised in one 1-year-old and one 2-year-old barrel, is endowed with a perfumed nose with brambly red fruits mixed with potpourri: fine definition and it gains intensity with aeration. The palate is very energetic on the entry, underpinned by fine chalky tannins and a citric thread of acidity. This is quite an intense Griotte, one that is obdurately linear and uncompromising on the finish, thus it deserves three or four years in bottle at a minimum when it may warrant a higher mark. Range: 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.”
The origin of perhaps the world’s very finest Pinot Noir, Côte de Nuits is the northern half of the Côte d'Or and includes the famous wine villages of Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Flagey-Echezeaux and Nuits-St-Georges.
Fine whites from Chardonnay are certainly found in the Côte de Nuits, but with much less frequency than top-performing reds made of Pinot noir. The little village of Nuits-St-Georges in its southern end gave the region its name: Côte de Nuits. The city of Dijon marks its northern border.