Winemaker Notes
A beautiful, intense ruby-red color. Powerful but refined aromas. When the wine is young, the aromas are reminiscent of black cherry and dark chocolate. With age, they evolve towards notes of undergrowth, truffle and licorice. After 15 years or so, the aromas of candied fruit remain but are mingled with nuances of leather and musk. Tannins provide a good structure, perfectly balanced by the velvety texture of the wine. The long aftertaste brings back the aromas of cherry and liquorice: a kaleidoscope of sensations.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
From the usual sources, their own and a regular contributor, vinified in barrel with minimal extraction. Now that they can pick the other part when they want, you no longer see two different wines in one. It certainly shows very gracefully on the nose. Much more harmonious, a little touch of liquorice along with ripe strawberry, a pleasing tingle to liven up the finish. Barrel Sample: (94-97)
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James Suckling
A big, broad and generous wine that’s well-structured, with moderate acidity, a full body and good underlying acidity. It’s handsome, mouth-filling and deep, begging for further aging before drinking, but so tempting now. Made with 50% whole clusters, a portion of which were fermented in large oak barrels. Impressively rich on the palate and long on the finish. Best from 2029.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Derived from their own vines (complemented by some purchased grapes), Drouhin's 2022 Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru opens in the glass with notes of sweet red berries, cherries and plums mingled with orange zest, exotic spices and rose petals. Full-bodied, rich and layered, it's broad-shouldered and powerful, with a rich core of fruit, sweet tannins and an expansive 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.