2003 Domaine Robert Groffier Père et Fils, Gevrey-Chambertin AOC, Côte de Nuits, Red Burgundy, France.
A complete joy in the glass and a true surprise considering the heat of the vintage, this glorious 2003 Gevrey-Chambertin by Robert Groffier, a legend in the Côte de Nuits and the Burgundy wine world, was a star on the night with some seriously good stuff around the table and the exceptional purity and terror drive character was beyond seductive with a dense core of black cherry, earthy mulberry, plum and dried currant fruits, along with mineral, black tea, wilted rose and brambly spices. Tasted absolutely blind, I had it pegged for Côte de Nuit, and thought it was either Nuits-St.-George or Gevrey, and was leaning Gevrey as it was revealed, but I was way off on age and never would have believed it was from the extreme heat effected 2003 vintage, such was the grace and balance found here! This wine, as it opened more gave a darker profile, hints of violets and forrest trufflely earth notes with an incredible mouth feel with supple, ripe tannins and a long silken finish. I was blown away, and maybe because Groffier in this era used a higher percentage of stems and whole cluster, it has aged with such amazing detail, complex layering and life, but regardless of how, this was a thill to behold. I’ve not drank too many Groffier wines, but this stuff really grabbed my attention and I’ll be on the look out for some old vintages, especially the more value priced village level offerings, like this one. I must say thank you again to my friend and wine professional, Alex Lallos of No Limits Fine Wines, who is a genius at getting off vintage gems and who very generously shared this fantastic Groffier Gevrey-Chambertin with a small group of wine enthusiasts. I must also thank Cella restaurant in old town Monterey, who patiently allowed us to enjoy a huge range of wines and never complained about how many stems we used! Not only was the food and wine outstanding, but the service was exceptional, making the evening that much better. The Domaine Robert Groffier Père & Fils is located in the village of Morey-Saint-Denis, and sources from estate owned prime parcels throughout the Côte de Nuits and are well regarded for their traditional and well crafted wines from the region’s limestone and clay soils and hillside vines.
It’s long been noted that the historic Groffier family are among the best winemakers in the Côte de Nuits and the domaine was originally founded by Robert Groffier’s father, Jules in the 1950s, and is now run by Robert’s grandson, Nicolas, who reputation is growing. The domaine, now consists of almost 8 ha of fine vineyards, including 1 ha of Bonnes Mares, almost 0.5 ha of Chambertin Clos de Bèze and a full 1 ha of Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses (the biggest single owner of this vineyard) and one of the jewels of Premier Crus that many believe is better than most Grand Cru sites, plus a collection of small parcels spend throughout the Côte de Nuits, including in Gevrey, as seen here. The winemaking relies on experience, but varies depending on the year’s fruit and the proportion of stems to be retained is decided by the vintage. Nicolas nowadays, uses up to 20% of stems, compared to 50% 20 years ago under his father, who made this 2003 Gevrey. The winery explains that the de-stemed grapes are transferred to stainless steel vats without crushing and cooled to 10-12 degrees, and the natural yeast fermentation starts about 4 to 5 days later. To allow further extraction of colour from the skins, frequent short pigeages are done, and the temperature is allowed to rise up to 35 C, which they add retains even more colour to the juice. The must typically sees between 17 to 20 days of maceration, the winery controls the temperature, which goes down to 20-22 C, then the wine is pressed or racked to barrel, with the percentage of new being directed by the pedigree of vineyard site. The Bourgogne sees no new wood, to up to 100% new oak for the Grand Crus, while this village saw maybe 20%?. The wines, the winery continues, are only racked once, usually only a year after the vintage and get about 18 months of aging in wood (about a year) and vat (usually 3 to 6 months) for the more serious stuff. The wines, interestingly enough go to vat as the new vintage is put into barrel, so only one vintage is in barrel at any time at Groffier. The wines here are bottled without fining or filtration, hopefully capturing all the nuances of each vintage, with this medium/full bodied and deep Gevrey-Chambertin being a stunning example of the winery’s successes.
($150 to 260 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive