Travelling south from Dijon Gevrey-Chambertin is the first major village in the Côte-d’Or; arguably its best, probably the most famous and certainly the largest. Gevery-Chambertin audaciously houses nine Grand Crus and 26 1er Cru vineyards and thereby rivalling Vosne-Romanée as the greatest of them all. The commune has a slope of 160ft (50m) and its wines are full, firm and rich, they are as masculine as Vosne-Romanée and arguably as concentrated. They show red fruits of cherries and raspberries balanced with a velvety silky texture. They also show a delightful spice and flamboyancy.
The great Grand Crus all bare the name Chambertin and are found half way up the slope on a rich outcrop of limestone. The 1er Cru vineyards are located beside the Grand Cru’s and deliver wonderful quality. Although Chambertin itself and Chambertin Clos de Beze (Beze) are considered the best the brilliant Grand Cru Chappelle Chambertin is found directly underneath Beze. In turn the superb 1er Cru plot Petite Chappelle is directly beneath this, hugging the great Grand Cru escarpment. We are very pleased to be offering allocations of these today from Louis Jadot, who have the skill, the funds and experience to make the most of this wonderful terroir.
Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru 2012
12×75 – £1,350, 6×75 – £675
As one can see from the map above Chapelle Chambertin lies directly underneath Clos de Beze, where the soil takes on a pebbly, hard rock consistency, which is richer than the neighbouring Grand Cru Griotte. The vineyard is 5.49ha, producing only 22,000 bottles and Louis Jadot, who along with Ponsot, Damoy, Drouhin-Laroze and Trapet is one of the principal and best properties with a plot of 39a, producing on average less than 1,500 bottles, this year will be greatly reduced. Jadot’s Chapelle is superb and offers incredible value for money: Burghound (Allen Meadows) has awarded this wine an average of 93 points over the last five years, while Galloni scored the 2010, 94-96 points; we can expect much of the same in 2012. Considering the huge global demand for top Grand Cru red Burgundy £112 a bottle for a leading Chambertin vineyard is a great buy. This is a wine to buy now, store for 6-8 years until it can be approached, at which point it be worth £200 a bottle and can be drunk over ten years with immense pleasure, or resold for a healthy profit: it is just a shame so little of it has been made!
The wine is superb, with a beautiful perfume of dog rose, violets, vanilla and lovely sweet spice notes of cinnamon and white pepper. The palate is refined and focused with an elegant balance and lots of cherry, raspberry and some blackberry. The finish is long with enveloping prunes, baked fruits, hints of caramel and a wonderful earthiness and minerality. This has all the power and elegance of a Grand Cru Chambertin and will develop notes of mushroom, truffle, musk, forest floor and hung meat. 93-94 points IG Wines
Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin, Petite Chapelle 1er Cru 2012
12×75 – £510, 6×75 – £255
The 1er Cru Petite Chapelle is situated in the south of the village of Gevrey touching the Grand Cru vineyards of Griotte and Chapelle and is best thought of as Chapelle Chambertin’s younger brother, although it is also close to the Grand Cru Mazoyeres in style. The vineyard, due to hugging the Grand Cru escarpment, benefits from wonderful terroir, with good drainage, lovely rock, limestone and clay and superb aspect, bathing in the summer sun and achieving a lovely ripeness. The wines tend to have a lovely finessed perfume, lots of black and red fruit and game with a complex but balanced nose. The palate tends of be elegant and impressive and Jadot’s Petite Chapelle is often on par or better than their Clos St Jacques, which is more expensive and really ought to be classified as a Grand Cru vineyard. The value here is overwhelming at £35 a bottle, for a gorgeous wine which displays the superb Chambertin typicity: it should be bought En Primeur and can be opened in 2017 but will age and improve for 15 years.
Beautifully pure nose of spice, cloves and cinnamon redcurrant, cherry, tar and liquorice. The palate has weight, with lots of precise red and black fruit and a hint of milk chocolate and a lovely earthiness and minerality. The finish promises a lot with great concentration and real class. This is a thoroughbred Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru and will develop further complexity over the next five years.92-94 points IG Wines
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