GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN
DOMAINE DENIS BACHELET
The 44 barrels made in 2024 occupied just one corner of the cuverie. Average yields of 20hl/ha. Denis has a new and efficient machine (with a price tag of €300,000) for spraying, which he did 13 times during the season. “With the new technology, the pressure is 2–3 kilos and the wind dissmeninates the product inside the leaves.” No Gevrey Evocelles. “In a good vintage, we can make three barrels, but it would have been just six cases in 2024, so no production.” Denis stuck to his usual approach in the winery. All is destemmed and crushed, and sugar added at the end: “We more precise when we add some sugar.” 12 to 15 days in the vat, with pigeage twice a day. “The challenge is to get a longer fermentation.” Th domaine has some small vats. Denis remarks on the necessity to take good lees, and he settled the wine for longer to ensure that only the fine lees made it into barrel. He racked the Fixin from one barrel to another to remove it from its lees as it was lightly reduced. “I don’t like reduction. Copper sulfite can increase the reduction.”
Chassin, Rousseau, and Remond are the three coopers, and the proportion of new oak varies across the range: 15% on Bourgogne, 20% on Côtes de Nuits, 30% on Gevrey, usually 50% on premier and grand cru.
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ck“The style is like the 2021. A sweet year, which is easy for restaurants, because the wines will be ready earlier. Very elegant. A little like 2016, for the concentration is nearly the same. With global warming, the tannins are softer, so it is not necessary to wait so long as in the past. I think 5 to 6 years, while the grand crus will age for ten years. We have fewer people who like the wine older, but some in England do.”
Fixin
Half of this wine is from Queue de Hareng at the top of hill where the topsoil is thin. There are five more parcels down below in this section, which forms a strip from top to bottom of the hill the other side of Brochon. “When the weather is with us, we can make great wine in these places. Fixin is not the best appellation, but there are good winemakers working there now and the quality has increased.” Bright, with sweet, red-cherry fruit. Crisp tannins. Crunchy and light. Really rather sprightly and energetic. 2026–30. 86
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Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Corbeaux
Deep clay soil and the wine reflects this, for it quite full, with a dark and brooding feel. Firm tannins and good freshness. It has plenty of matter, with 50% new oak. Sapidity carries the finish. 2027–34. 92–93
Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
Plentiful sweet-fruit aroma. A succulent slide into a fullish and generous mid-palate. There is volume and concentration for 2024. “It’s not like 2023!” says Denis, but for 2024 it has a deep mid-palate. A quantity of quite firm tannin. There is quite a lot of new oak, giving a rich glossiness also apparent on the finish, which ends on a more aromatic note. 2028–38. 96
DOMAINE BERNARD DUGAT-PY
Loïc sprayed 12 times and used 4kg of copper. He has high vines, tressage, in premier and grand cru parcels and, despite the mildew pressure in 2024, he managed to continue with this. He started harvest on September 12. He likes whole-bunch, but largely de-stemmed everything in 2024, with just 10–20% in grand cru. He remarks on the necessity for selection. Volume was 50–70% lower than average.
“Much less extraction and shorter vatting in 2024, at 14 to 20 days.” Only remontage and he used less new oak. “I never add tartaric acidity. I prefer to harvest earlier.” Like everyone, he chaptalized. “It was important to take only the fine lees and to do a light pressing. I pressed to just 0–0.8 bar.”
He had not racked the reds in October as he would have normally. He feels the wines are fragile, but improving every day, so he will leave them in the same barrels over the winter and bottle the Bourgogne in the spring, moving progressively to grand cru in early summer 2026. Unfortunately, as I wasn’t shown all the reds, this is a selection of a selection.
“2024 (red) has a lot of energy and freshness. It will be easy and very pleasant to drink after four years in bottle. It is much better than 2021. It is not a powerful vintage, but elegant and feminine. It could evolve over 10 to 25 years. It’s like the ’80s vintages that my father and grandfather made.”
Surprisingly, whites represent 30% of the domaine. 2003 was the first vintage for them, starting with Meursault, an old plot of le Village, which has made a rich and generous 2024. There’s also an attractive white Monthelie and a full-bodied, punchy premier cru Chassagne-Montrachet from premier cru Morgeot (Francemont). Loïc likes a whole-bunch press and does just one night of débourbage. All fermented and aged in 228-liter barrels. Fifteen months on lees. Fining will take place in January. A good flight of whites from the domaine, which are a step up in quality over the reds in 2024.
White
Pernand-Vergelesses Premier Cru Sous Frétille
Dynamic, straight, and energetic. Such a zesty palate. There is plenty of ripeness balanced with a cool and nervy cut which carries the mineral finish. Lovely terroir expression. Tip-top. 2027–34. 92
Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Champ Gain
First vintage was 2022. It is nervy and fresh on the attack. Straight and quite delicate for the Blagny side of this climat, and from 70-year-old vines. Fresh, pure, and mineral. Sings on the finish. 2027–35. 92–93
Red
Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes
From vines 40–60 years old, across 1.5ha (3.7 acres) and spread over many parcels. Light, crispy tannins. Red-currant fruit; pure and light-bodied. Slightly sapid to finish. A lucid and delicate Gevrey. 2027–32. 88
Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
25% new oak. Aromatic, full, and rounded. This has volume, with an open, airy quality. Light-textured tannins. Pure and fresh, with ripe summer fruits. Slightly herbal freshness carries the finish. I prefer Loïc’s Charmes to his Mazoyères. 2027–35. 94–95
Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru
In contrast, this has dark forest fruit. No new oak. Pinging and crisp attack. More and firmer tannins but finely textured. Quite a snap here. It has bite and tension. Loïc finds it has more elegance and finesse than the Charmes, while I find more grip. There is vigor and intension. Just lightly exotic aromatics carry the finish. 2027–35. 94–95
BERNARD DUGAT-PY
Loïc makes three whites as a négociant, an activity he started with the 2022 vintage. There are premier cru Meursault Charmes, Puligny Folatières and Referts. He buys fruit on long-term contracts. He decides on harvest dates, but other than that has no influence in the vineyard. He is reluctant to identify the exact location of the parcels, but in any event, I feel that the Puligny Referts is his best wine.
Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Referts
Juicy strike to a broad palate. Good matter mid-palate. Some density. Punchy. Savory, sapid finish. Shows proper terroir character. 2027–34. 94
DOMAINE DES CHÉZEAUX
Charles Van Canneyt and his wife Anne-Sophie Gagey bought Domaine des Chézeaux in October 2021. Domaine des Chézeaux was farmed by three families, including Amélie Berthaut, François Leclerc, and Laurent Ponsot. An accommodation was reached with Berthaut and Leclerc before the 2023 harvest and, for the 2024 harvest, with Ponsot. All harvested on September 20. There are six cuvées—all interesting.
Charles remarks, “I know that in Vosne-Romanée you can do a lot of pigeage and never get strong tannins, but in Gevrey I am learning about the terroir, so I am more careful with extraction.” There is a new winery in Gevrey for the 2025 harvest. The 2024 was made in the winery in Vougeot and the barrels were moved to the new cellar in September 2025.
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Cazetiers
Silky, fine, and delicate. A shimmer of cool and shiny minerals. It is light-bodied, straight, pure, and elegant. Stretches into a lovely, salty finish. A delicate and precise Cazetiers. 2027–35. 94
Clos St-Denis Grand Cru
Very old vines. Farmed from Ponsot from the 1980s, but the vines have been ripped out as they were barely yielding. Only one barrel, and it’s a new Cavin. Will be bottled in magnums. This swan song of Clos St-Denis is lucid and sweetly intense. Silky, salty, fine and vibrant. Super-focused. Grand cru persistence. A fine and refined example. 2028–38. 97
DOMAINE GÉANTET-PANSIOT
Fabien Géantet, who has 30ha (75 acres) of vines, suffered 70% losses in 2024. Average 12–15hl/ha. “At harvest, there was light rain in Chambolle but no dilution.” In the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits there was frost, resulting in 80% losses. Harvest started on September 23.
All destemmed fruit. The usual cold pre-ferment maceration at 54–57ºF (12–14ºC). Three weeks of alcoholic fermentation, not above 90 ºF (32 ºC), “to avoid any VA or the yeast stopping with residual sugar,” with one punch-down and one pump-over per day. Some had fewer punch-downs this year. “Two to three weeks for the settling was important in 2024. You could end up with vegetal aromas in a vintage like this.”
“The first tasting showed slightly less length, so I used slightly more new oak than in 2023 to stretch the palate.” Rousseau and Cavin barrels in the main, but he works with seven coopers in total. All the bottling occurs at the end of the year (November or December).
“I am amazed that Poissenot and Marsannay Champ Perdrix don’t show the limestone touch at all now, while the ’23 and the ’22 are showing it.” We tried Gevrey premier cru Poissenot 2021, which certainly showed the marne soils.
“The vintages with more acidity and tension are interesting for whites,” remarks Fabien. There are six whites now in the portfolio. Fabien considers that for reds, “2024 is a better vintage than 2021, but most like 2021. It is less austere than 2021. The acidity is present but not as high as 2021, due to the low crop, and the balance is better between the tannins, fruit, and acidity. All will come into place slightly better for 2024 than for 2021. I would wait five years, and the wines will easily age for ten.”
White
Marsannay Blanc
From four parcels. Ripe fruit with lively sapidity and salinity, making for a very pleasing balance. Good. Appetizing. 2026–29. 86
Red
Marsannay Champ Perdrix
Black-cherry aroma, and dark fruit on the palate, too. Has some muscle, black matter and punch. Quite a rugged, tannic feel, becoming much more savory at the end. 2026–32. 85
Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes
From 17 parcels, with an average vine age of 75 years. More concentrated and richer than the regular cuvée, from 30-year-old vines, this has greater presence of dark cherry fruit. Lightly rounded, with some sappiness from the new oak, which extends the finish and boosts the freshness. 30% new oak. 2026–30. 86–87
*Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs
From vines planted in 1903. A small wooden 9hl vat for this. Violet floral aromas. Juicy attack, attractive richness of fruit, seductive and concentrated. The tannins are plentiful, ripe and chunky and smooth. 50% new oak on this two-barrel cuvee, but it handles it and the oak stretches the finish. 2027–32. 88
*Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Le Poissenot
From 0.5ha (1.24 acres), and in 2024 there were six barrels from 25ha/hl. Slightly better flowering than elsewhere, and this is a well-drained, well-ventilated site, so there was less mildew. A pleasing concentration of sweet fruit (dried cherries) on the nose, which carries to the palate. There is some intensity and ripeness on a straight palate. Sappy tannin from the 50% new oak, which is a little dominant on the finish, but I like this wine. 2028–34. 91–92
Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
This is Charmes proper, from a parcel of 0.5ha (1.24 acres), from which there were six barrels in 2024. 50% new oak. Spicy, strawberry-field aromatics, to a full, quite airy palate. There is volume, with sweetness but no heaviness. The finely textured tannins are boosted with some sappy tannins from the oak. It is a charming and inviting grand cru, with some delicacy, and a fresh and nicely persistent finish. 2028–35. 93
DOMAINE HENRI MAGNIEN
Charles Magnien said of 2024: “It was not a vintage in which to learn, but rather one for action, using my ‘little’ experience since 2009 and the experience from my father and grandfather. At school, we learn about mildew, but I have never seen it as it was in 2024.”
“The challenge was to keep the plant in good health. I am lucky to have vineyards on the slope, where there is better drainage. In 2024, my team worked all night when necessary and at weekends.” Charles treats the vineyards from 10pm till dawn and has been doing this for seven years but feels it was particularly beneficial in 2024. “My friends think I am mad, but there is less evaporation and the vines are less stressed.”
“There are two types of 2024. Those with less quantity because of mildew and others from poor flowering. Without the sun at end of the season, there would have been a lot of botrytis, but we had sun and cold nights before harvest, which has given us varietal aromas. Eighty percent of the vineyards were planted in 1915, with a massal selection of Pinot fin. For these vines, the flowering was a little later, so we lost less. The average yield was 35.8hl/ha.”
“We did a green-harvest and ‘blue’ harvest 7–10 days before harvest, when we took off the underripe bunches, which was very important. I was tired, but very happy at the end of this vintage.”
Harvested September 14–20. “There was not much juice. Very small berries, like black currants. The pips were brown, but the skins took more time to develop. All was quite easy to sort, except the two parcels with mildew at the bottom of the village. The vibrating table was useful to lose the small berries.” All destemmed fruit (apart from the 4 Carac Terres, which continued with its usual 100% whole-bunch, and I didn’t like it much this year). “We wanted the natural Pinot aromas. Any mildew is not welcome.
“I immediately thought 2024 needs a gentle and long vinification, so I did ten days at 10ºC [50ºF], just pushing the berries under the juice, then warmed to 15ºC [59ºF], and after two days the fermentation started.” Charles did some pigeage when there was no alcohol. “I set a maximum [fermentation temperature] of 26ºC [79ºF], for the third year running. The computer is the guardian of freshness. Cazetiers can go to 32ºC [90ºF], if left on its own. In 2024, the yeasts worked slowly—cooler and longer—so we could be more delicate with the extraction. At zero sugar, I tasted and felt it lacked mid-palate, so at that point I raised the temperature to 30+ºC [86+ºF]. Each hour, I tasted the tank. I sleep in the winery, tasting, then I refresh the tank when I have enough alcohol. I chaptalized a little—by an average of 0.8%—but more in 2025. I like a premier cru at 13% minimum—not too much sugar or you change the balance. I do not like to add tartaric. Malic acidity at harvest was around 2.3–2.5g/l. In Cazetiers, the pH went from 3.42 to 3.5, with 3.54g/l of total acidity after malo. The malolactic happened in January. We have had no issues with Brett since 2017. I have the wines analyzed four times each year.
In 2024, Charles kept the wine in tanks to settle for two weeks. He moves it into the previous year’s barrels, and there is generally one third new oak generally (the Corton has 75% and Premier Cru 4 Carac Terres 100%). Then he moves the previous year’s wine to tank and bottles quite early. So there is only one year in barrel. The 2024s will be bottled in November. In 2019 and 2021 Charles simulated a winter by cooling the cellar in the summer and then bottled early. “I wanted to keep freshness in 2021. I have the space to age the wines over a second winter, but I never want a barrel empty.” He is considering other vessels for a more extended aging.
“The terroir impact is the most important thing about 2024. It will be easy and drinkable in youth. The balance is incredible and promises a very interesting possibility to keep, but I think it will be very open all the time; eight years for premiers crus, to have less primary fruit and more complex characters, and ten years for Cazetiers. The ’24s are very stable, but I am surprised by the fruit and the density. I like the precise aromatics. It is not often you get the impression of freshness first from the nose. A good end [the wine produced] after a very bad start.”
“For style and terroir impression, 2024 is like 2021, but with more density, more fruit, and more expression in the wine, and the impression of less acidity.” But there is still an abundance of energy and vibrant fruit in Charles’s wines.
Gevrey-Chambertin XV
This year the 15 parcels are in one cuvée. Lightly spicy aroma. Silky slide into a straight and neatly edged palate, with lightly crunchy tannins. Streamed with fresh acidity. Good intensity and focus for a village wine, with a fresh and minty finish. 2027–32. 88
*Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Cazetiers
Packed with energy, this pounces on the palate. Channeled, punchy, and sapid. There is layering of deeper, darker fruit notes, with salty austerity running through. On the nicely sustained finish, vibrant fruit combines with salty bitterness. 2028–34. 93–94
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Champeaux
The second vintage with no new oak, only second-fill. A gorgeous stream of red fruits gurgles across the palate. Exuberant, fresh, and splashy. A light crunch of tannin. On the finish, it’s certainly piquant. Very fresh and lively. A happy wine. 2027–32. 92–93
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Estournelles St-Jacques
Although from high on the slope and quite far into the combe with its cold wind, the climat is south-facing, and it shows. Warm forest fruits and exotic spice aroma. Plentiful but finely textured tannins. Certainly some sweetness, cut with zesty freshness. An attractive, fennel-seed bitterness gives a certain peppiness to the finish. Full of beans and character. 2027–33. 92
*Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Lavaux St-Jacques
A silky sweep onto the palate. It is cool and quite tart, yet there is a concentration of dried cranberries and sour cherries to offset this. Neatly woven, super-straight, elegant, and pure. It shows some refinement of texture. 2027–34. 93
*Ruchottes Chambertin Grand Cru
Ripe raspberry fruit, with a delightful, fresh sweetness. On the palate, it cracks down to a more austere Ruchottes character, but this is swathed in raspberry aromatics, making it more accessible than in a cold vintage, although it remains channeled and tight. It has grand cru substance and precision. Finishes with powerful, sapid length. 2028–35. 96
Aloxe-Corton Premier Cru La Coutière
From a parcel in Ladoix below Grandes Lolières. Black-fruit and spice aroma. Sweet attack. Bold chunkiness, with plentiful tannins but smoothly rounded. Somewhat smoky asphalt and aniseed notes to finish. Amazingly, this 100-year-old vineyard yielded 45hl/ha in 2024. “The plants are in very good health,” remarks Charles. 2027–30. 89
DOMAINE ROSSIGNOL-TRAPET
Nicolas Rossignol recalls that the flowering was much better in Beaune, which completed in five days, while in Gevrey it took two weeks and there was much more rain in Gevrey. He used 8.2lb (3.7kg) of copper. Demeter certification has a limit of 6.6lb (3kg), but in certain vintages it can be higher.
“A lot of berries were dry, so easy to select. We had two sorting tables. A first table, then we destemmed 100% and used a second vibrating table to take off the last dried berries. An artisanal way of doing things. Nice berries and juice. Thin skins.” Nicolas uses a cold maceration before heating to start the fermentation, which lasted 7–10 days in 2024. He chaptalized lightly toward the end, and pressed at a low pressure (only 0.3 bar). “A very gentle and long press, with only one turn at 0.2 [bar].” He let the wines settle for at least ten days before barreling down, so as to have fine less. “With fine lees, we do not have to rack.” Nicolas conducted the élevage in the usual way. He bottled from November, for the Bourgogne, through to March for the grands crus.
The barrels are mainly from Rousseau, but Nicolas finds Chassin good for the Teurons. “With Rousseau, we have found the right style for us—medium-long toast and the wood must be dried more than 36 months.”
He says of his 2024 wines: “Very approachable, with nice floral aromas and length. Less aging potential than 2023 or 2022, but we might be surprised after bottling. There is structure. So, from five years up to 15 years for the grands crus. Perhaps 2024 is most like 2021. Maybe there is more body in 2021, but we have the aromas of 2021, and like 2021, it is a vintage to enjoy.” The wines are slim and refined. Quite delicate.
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Clos Prieur
Soft and fruity. Lightly rounded. It’s relaxed and lightly plump; soft, maybe, but sufficient freshness to finish, possibly more from the tannins than from acidity. Easy harmony. 2027–34. 91–92
Chambertin Grand Cru
Slips discreetly onto the palate. 42% new oak, which is about usual. There is reserve and more sophistication here than in the Latricières; a level up in intensity and finesse. It’s quite light and slim for Chambertin, but intense and very persistent. The longest finish of the grands crus. As it should have. 2028–35. 96
Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru
Only two barrels in 2024: one new Rousseau barrique and one three-year fill. The oak shows rather, and I hope it settles in, as this wine has finesse. The sweetness upfront may be partly from that new oak; on the mid-palate, there are fine-textured, silky tannins, light, slim, and streamlined. Straight, elegant, and persistent. My favorite. 2027–35. 96
Beaune Premier Cru Les Teurons
Ripe red fruit. Fine-textured. Talc-crisp tannins. Straight, light, salty, and sweet. So pretty. 2027–32. 91–92
DOMAINE ARMAND ROUSSEAU
Cyrielle Rousseau had to combine appellations this vintage because her smallest vats are 30hl. 1998 was the last vintage of Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru, before Lavaux and Cazetiers were separated, but this vintage is also exceptional in that some of the grands crus have been blended. Mazis is blended with Ruchottes, which will be labeled as Premier Cru Cuvée Les Mazottes and held back for late release. Clos de Bèze joins Chambertin, to be labeled as Chambertin, as permitted by appellation regulations. It is in 100% new oak, which dominated on the day I visited in October, unlike the other wines, making it difficult to comment on properly.
Cyrielle started harvest on September 18. “We were collecting berries on bunches. A lot of sorting. How can anyone not have sorted! The berries were not especially small and there were few berries in a bunch, and the skins were not especially thin.” Yields were 9–16hl/ha. “Older vines had fewer berries. We were almost destemming by hand. We didn’t put any stems back. Even in a good vintage, it is just one case in a hundred, and we only do it when they are nice stems.
“Always the same extraction. We always go easy. Remontage and pigeage.” She chaptalized to 12.5–13%. “The maturation was good, but the goal is to be above 16 days in the vat. The only adaptation is that we usually wait a week before barreling down and in 2024 it was after four days.” She seems to have felt that the CO2 was insufficient to protect them. “It took us just two days to barrel down.” The whole vintage was contained in just one level of barrels, so it was quick; there were 76 barrels in 2024, while in 2023 there were 280. The last time it was so low was 1981, a vintage made by her grandfather. The barrels are filled by gravity from the cuverie above. The usual élevage: racking in February and bottling between March and April.
“It is only the second time I have tried the 2024s, so I cannot describe the style or say which vintage it is like. I prefer to find lyrics for the vintage, but it is too early for this, too. The wines make me smile, and for the moment, that is all I can tell you.”
Gevrey-Chambertin
As usual, this includes fruit from two premier cru parcels, which join seven parcels of village wine located on the east and south of the village. “Soft and cozy aroma,” remarks Cyrielle. Red-cherry and cherry-blossom aromas. Delicate, wafting, light, and slim, with a fine and silky texture. Charming. Glistening minerals to finish. 2027–32. 90
*Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru
A blend of Lavaux-St-Jacques and Les Cazetiers. Nine barrels. The red-cherry fruit and breeziness of Lavaux, especially on the aroma, while on the palate, there is the body and density from Cazetiers. It slims and straightens on the finish to become salty on the finish. These premiers crus work well together. “Each has its space,” agrees Cyrielle. 2028–34. 94
*Gevrey-Chambertin Clos St-Jacques
Only 50% new oak rather than the usual 80%. I found a sample from a new barrel too overwhelmingly oaky, but from a second-fill barrel the fine-boned frame was revealed; purity of fruit, light-bodied but with intensity. Taffeta texture. Streamlined and crisply edged; precise, salty, and persistent. Lucidity and stretch. 2028–37. 98
*Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Cuvée Les Mazottes
A blend of Ruchottes and Mazis. This is maybe more Mazis on the aroma and upfront on the palate, for it has spicy and succulent forest fruits and is quite full for the vintage, showing depth mid-palate, layering and complexity. You feel the tension from Ruchottes coming under the palate, and there is its austerity on the lithe and savory, sapid finish. Terse and salty and lingering. “It makes me want to smile. When you decide to mix the two, you don’t know what will happen, but I am very happy. I see Mazis as a big, hairy bear, while Ruchottes is like foam but quickly fills the space.” 2028–38. 98
*Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Powerful and punchy, this shows proper Clos de la Roche severity from the limestone. A compact palate with density. The most battened-down, reserved Clos de la Roche I tasted in 2024. 25% new oak, as usual. A persistent finish, with exotic aromatics and salinity. Excellent terroir expression. 2028–38. 98
DOMAINE TRAPET
I tasted with Louis, one of Jean-Louis’s two sons. His brother Pierre takes care of the estate in Alsace. Louis has taken a different approach from most producers to the 2024 vintage, focusing on greater extraction, more lees, and more new oak for the reds. They had 70% less production. “We lost 30% more to the sorting—a double pity for us—but the grapes that went into the tanks were perfect.” Ended at pH levels of 3.65–7. “It is not in our philosophy to acidify. We did a little chaptalizing for Gevrey village and Marsannay, to extend the fermentation, but generally we didn’t need to do any.”
“In 2024, the tannins are not so present. As we used few whole bunches, I was not frightened to extract. We did a lot of pigeage until the end, and had a longer vatting than usual at 21–24 days. I wanted to exploit all the potential of the grapes, not to leave anything to go to the distillery. Not on trend maybe, but this is how I adapted to this vintage.”
He usually settles for seven days, but did just three in 2024. “We kept more lees than usual in 2024. Because it is a light vintage, I thought the lees would nourish the wines more.” Rather than the usual 5 liters of lees per pièce, he used 10. No larger barrels in 2024. All 228-liter barriques. “I feel the wines need more new oak for structure and freshness.” The barrels are mainly Rousseau, but also François Frères (“10–15%, which worked very well in 2022”) plus a few from Eric Millard (apparently Millard makes only 120 barrels or so a year). There are fewer cuvées than usual, as Trapet blended some parcels; there are two rather than three cuvées of village Gevrey, and all five premiers crus became one wine.
The estate was converted to single-stake and high-canopy in 2020. They started with Combottes, after the hot 2019 vintage, when Louis and Pierre felt the fruit had sunburn. Biodynamic-certified.
“2021 has more acidity and less concentration than 2024. We were really lucky to have the sun in August. The whites got ripe. And we always like to pick the whites with good ripeness.” All the whites had some foulage. “I like the first juice. We have more lees, but I clean then with cold. I rack the previous vintage in September and put the new vintage over the lees of the previous year. The whites have fine lees, as the settling is at 5ºC [41ºF].” The fermentation starts in tank but finishes after the wine is moved to foudres of 25hl. After a year (in September) the 2024, the wine was moved back to stainless steel and stayed there until March.
White
*Marsannay Blanc
From a parcel in Grasses-Têtes, bought in 1985; mostly Chardonnay, but there is also some old-vine Pinot Beurot (about 8% now). A somewhat spicy aroma. I like the undertow of savory minerality, earthiness, and salinity, which combines with a rather “purple” aromatic on the finish. Nice freshness. Very appealing. 2026–30. 86
Red
Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Aléa
A blend of the five premiers crus: Clos Prieur, Petite Chapelle, Corbeaux, En Ergot, and Combottes. This cuvée was made in 2010, 2013, 2016, and again now in 2024. “We didn’t do this in 2021, as my brother and I made lots of one-barrel cuvées.” Co-fermented. Lively strike; sweetness on the mid-palate cloaks really quite firm tannins. This has depth and precision. Juiciness combines with aromatics to finish. 2027–32. 92–93
Le Chambertin Grand Cru
Clearly Louis is searching for more extraction, tannins, and power in this Chambertin, for it does not show Chambertin’s typical, discreet profile. Richness and intensity on the nose. A punchy and overt Chambertin. More about power and tannins. The matter and 45% new oak combine. It does have a long finish, but for now, the extraction and oak do rather cover the terroir. Louis points out that this has less than the 60% new oak his father used. After tasting the 2018 (60% new oak), Louis and Pierre decided that such a high proportion of new wood was always going to be too much. 2028–36. 94–95
*Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru
Louis finds this terroir most affected by the vintage. “I prefer a cold year to hot. I always think of my grandfather, who said Latricières is always shy, so I think that when it is very expressive, as in 2020, I don’t recognize it. It was too ripe then, so we changed the canopy management that year. I wanted it to be lighter and more elegant.” Light garden-herb aroma. It is delicate, fine-textured, slim, and straight, even a little minty. Long, silky, persistent, and pure on the finish. A shiver of salt at the end. This escapes somewhat the imprint of extraction and new oak and is translucent to the terroir. 2027–35. 96
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