Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin Cuvée 1859, which traditionally enters into the Ostrea cuvée, refers to the date that Trapet's grandfather purchased the first parcel (on 23 October that year to be exact), and it contains 80% whole bunch. Trapet was not 100% sure he will bottle this separately…but he most likely will, so I include it here. It has a fragrant, floral bouquet with pressed iris flowers and ,sous-bois shy at first but unfolding with time. The palate is well-balanced with sappy red berry fruit, fine acidity, taut and saline with a very harmonious finish. This is wonderful...fingers crossed that Trapet sees this through to bottling. Rating: (93-95)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Gevrey-Chambertin 1859 derives from old vines in lieu-dit Champerrier that the Trapet family acquired in 1859. Offering up aromas of cherries, wild berries, orange rind and rose petals, it's medium to full-bodied, lively and concentrated, with a layered core of fruit, powdery tannins and a long, sapid finish.
Barrel Sample: 90-92 -
Jasper Morris
Trapet’s top village wine changed dramatically in the glass. The first impression was of warmth, with a slightly muddied berry fruit compote. There is plenty of the opulent juicy fruit of the vintage, a ripe soft strawberry with a few slightly fresher raspberry notes, but perhaps lacking precision. Enjoyable more than complex. But then the layers of fruit began to develop well and the definition sharpened up in the glass to show how good this wine will be when it climbs out of adolescence.
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.