GRIOTTE CHAMBERTIN
2016 Grand Cru Domaine Joseph Drouhin
Sweeter, easier, quite generous. Ripe red fruit, gloss, but just a tad of grippy suede texture keeps this serious. Intense, grip and feel from whole cluster fermentation. Good, balanced Griotte.L&S (Nov 2017)
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The 2016 Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru has a fruit-driven, slightly confit bouquet that feels later picked than its peers and without the same delineation and terroir expression. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, fleshy and high-toned with notes of fig and dates infusing the red fruit. Sweet with veins of marmalade towards the finish. Not bad, but I feel there is better to come. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting. Drinking range: 2022 - 2050 Rating: 91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Oct 2019)
An elegant and beautifully complex nose also possesses plenty of floral elements that add breath to the strikingly pure aromas of extract of red pinot fruit that reflect spiced hints of mandarin orange and earth. There is a lilting mouth feel to the supple, round and utterly delicious and slightly finer middle weight plus flavors that display fine delineation on the mildly austere but balanced, harmonious and attractively persistent mineral-inflected finish. This is certainly impressive in its fashion but it doesn’t have the same brilliant depth as the best in the range, or at least not yet. Drinking range: 2023 - Rating: 94 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Apr 2018)
(35% vendange entier): Medium red. Alluring aromas of black raspberry, coffee, game and earth. Supple and quite fresh in the mouth, with its berry, spice and floral flavors complemented by a hint of gamey reduction. This very silky wine spreads out nicely to fill the mouth without giving any impression of heaviness, thanks to surprising acidity. Best today on the long, rising finish, which features firm but suave tannins and lingering floral character. Drinking range: 2023 - 2034 Rating: 92 Stephen Tanzer, www.vinousmedia.com (Feb 2018)
The aromas of this wine are very exceptional with strawberries and burnt oranges. Smoky, too. Then it turns to pure fruit. Full-bodied, dense and layered with soft and round tannins. Sexy and plump. So delicious already. Round and yummy. Drink now but better in 2022. Rating: 97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
Not especially deep crimson. Heady, intense nose. Some oak at the moment but should dissipate. Lots to enjoy! Sweet, pure fruit with real raciness. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035 Rating: 17.5+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Feb 2018)
The 2016 Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru was reduced to just four hectoliters this vintage. It includes 20% whole cluster fruit and will spend 16 months in oak. It felt a little muted at first but soon found its voice with pretty crushed violet-tinged blackberry and cassis fruit. I like the delineation here. The palate is well balanced if not as nuanced or refined as the Clos de Vougeot, more masculine than its peers with a saline finish that lingers. Good, but not the greatest this year. Drinking range: 2020 - 2033 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Dec 2017)
Domaine Joseph Drouhin
Joseph Drouhin, founded in 1880 and still family owned, are one of the most well-respected names in Burgundy, especially through their flagship wine, the iconic Clos des Mouches.
A huge part of the Drouhin production comes from their own domaine fruit (78 hectares), and much of the rest comes from contracts such as that with the Marquis de Laguiche, who shook hands with the grandfather of the current generation, agreeing to let him manage his vineyards which included an important part of Le Montrachet; this collaboration endures. Today, the fourth generation is at the helm
Small refinements continue to be made here. The presses have been changed - a reversion to basket pressing for the reds, and for whites the presses are open - along with a number of other growers they are following the trend to think that slight oxidation of the juice before fermentation is not a problem and may add complexity as well as avoiding later problems of premature oxidation in bottle.
For the reds there has been the introduction of selective whole-bunch fermentation in the Côte de Nuits wines. The house style remains one that 'emphasises the natural elegance of great Burgundies' as they describe it. The domaine is all cultivated with an organic and biodynamic approach.
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