Grand Crus 特级田

Chambertin (12.9 ha）
Chambertin-Clos de Beze (15.4 ha)

Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Beze are the best vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin and generally offering wines with the highest quality.

Both vineyards have slopes running from west to east with only a small portion of slopes running from north to south.  In term of wine styles, they are very similar.  Their wines are usually very rich and dense with high concentration and very muscular in style.  Comparing to other top vineyards in other Burgundy villages such as Vosne-Romanee and Chambolle-Musigny, Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Beze usually have higher level of tannins and fuller.  A good Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Beze need at least ten years to mature and reveal their potential!

For Chambertin, since the top of its slope is next to forest, its top section has relatively cooler microclimate and vines will be ripen later.  Its lower slope is also affected by cool breeze from Combe de Grisard and has a cooler microclimate as well.  Unexpectedly, producers having vines in the mid-section is producing wines of the highest quality.

For wines produced from Chambertin-Clos de Beze, they may legally be labelled Buy propecia online as Chambertin.  Yet, the reverse is not legally allowed.  Even so, since Chambertin-Clos de Beze is as famed as Chambertin, not many producers will label their Clos de Beze as Chambertin.  Actually, many people would consider Clos de Beze is of even higher quality than Chambertin!  Some producers with just very small holdings in Chambertin and Clos de Beze would use grapes from both vineyards and labelled their wines as Chambertin.  One example is Dujac.

While Chambertin and Clos de Beze are very similar in both its climate and soil, there are still some slight differences.  Clos de Beze has more slopes facing south and in general receive more sunshine.  In addition, Clos de Beze is less affected by the cool breeze of Combe de Grisard.  Therefore, grapes from Clos de Beze usually ripen a bit earlier than Chambertin.

These differences, however, are usually too small to reflect in their wines.  Even the most acclaimed wine critics will have have perfect confident in distinguishing Chambertin from Clos de Beze.  If you really want to know their differences, the best way is to have wines from Dom. Armand Rousseau which got holdings in both vineyards.  According to Charles Rousseau. “Chambertin is male and virile. It is bigger and more tannic. It lacks a bit of finesse in it’s youth, but it rounds off to give a wine of more concentration and depth. Clos de Beze is more mineral, more complex, more delicate.”

The following video shows what Chambertin and Clos de Beze look like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd00moU01to

Chapelle-Chambertin (5.49 ha)

Chapelle-Chambertin is actually made up by two vineyards, En la Chapelle and Les Germaux.  It got its name probably because there used to have a chapel of Notre-Dame de Beze in this vineyard.  Since the topsoil in Chapelle is thin and shallow, Chapelle usually fares better in wetter and cooler vintage.  This is opposite of Latricieres which fares better in warmer vintage.

Wines from Chapelle is usually lighter in colour and usually described as more feminine.  However, since Chapelle is located on the lower slope and many consider Chapelle as one of the lower quality Grand Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin.  Jasper Morris even said that he has never encounter a decent bottle of Chapelle!

Charmes-Chambertin (12.24 ha)
Mazoyeres-Chambertin (18.59 ha)

Even though both Charmes and Mazoyeres are Grand Cru vineyards but most producers will simply named their Mazoyeres as Charmes.  Exceptions are Dom. de la Vougeraie, Christophe, Roumier, Dugat-Py, Perrot, Taupenot-Merme and Camus.

Similar to Chapelle, Charmes has a more feminine style and a softer structure.  However, this is considered to be the worst Grand Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin.  Not only Charmes and Mazoyeres are both located on lower slope, Mazoyeres even has its vineyard extended as far to the road of RN74.  Cross this road, not to mention vineyards of Grand Cru and Premier Cru, many believe they even didn’t qualify the village appellation of Gevrey-Chambertin.  Having said that, you shouldn’t just avoid all the wines from Charmes and Mazoyeres.  Wines from reputable producers can still be very high quality.

Griotte-Chambertin (2.73 ha)

This is the smallest Grand Cru vineyard in Gevrey-Chambertin.  The meaning of Griotte is a fruit jam made from cherry.  Unsurprisingly, wines from Griotte usually also got similar flavour.  They are usually lighter in body and has a softer structure but highly perfumed.  With the exception of Chambertin and Clos de Beze, Griotte is considered to be a Grand Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin with higher quality.  Unfortunately, annual production from Griotte is very small.

Latricieres-Chambertin (7.53 ha)

Latricieres means “nothing much” but actually it is not really poorer in soil nutrient when comparing to other Grand Crus.  Exactly opposite of Chapelle, Latricieres fares better in warmer vintage since it is more heavily influenced by cool breeze from Combe de Grisard.  Its wine style is usually coarser and spicer.  This is another Grand Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin which is considered in producing wines of lesser quality.  Its wines generally lack complexity, concentration and elegance when comparing to other Grand Crus.

Mazis-Chambertin (9.1 ha)

Other than the spelling of Mazis, this Grand Cru can also be spelled as Mazy.  Mazis can be divided into two parts: Les Mazis-Hauts and Les Mazis-Bas.  Of the two, Les Mazis-Hauts is considered to be of higher quality.  While Chambertin and Clos de Beze generally will have a better structure than Mazis, Mazis is still a high quality Grand Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin.  It can produce wine with very good structure and very powerful in style.

Ruchottes-Chambertin (3.3 ha)

Ruchottes means small rock.  Same as Mazis, Ruchottes can also be divided into two areas: upper-sloped Ruchottes du Dessus and lower-sloped Ruchottes du Bas.  Again, Ruchottes du Dessus located at the upper slope is capable in producing wines of better quality and the vineyard is wholly owned by Dom. Armand Rousseau.  Ruchottes has similar wine style as Mazis which has firm structure and powerful.  Ruchottes is a high quality Grand Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin with small quantities of wines produced annually.

Premier Crus

*** Area One ***

La Boissiere, La Romanee, Clos des Varoilles, Poissenot, Lavaux-Saint-Jacques, Estournelles, Clos Saint-Jacques, Clos du Chapitre, Les Cazetiers, Les Petits Cazetiers, La Combe-au-Moine, Les Champeaux, Les Goulots

This area is located on the west of the village of Gevrey-Chambertin.  Comparing to other Premier Buy Viagra Soft Tabs Online Pharmacy No Prescription Needed Crus, they are located on upper-sloped and is an area with better quality Buy Zoloft Online Pharmacy No Prescription Needed Premier Crus.  Its most famous Premier Crus are Saint-Jacques and Les Cazetiers.

Clos Saint-Jacques (6.70 ha)

Clos Saint-Jacques is a Premier Cru vineyard actually with Grand Cru quality.  This is undoubtedly the best Premier Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin.  As Clive Coates has said, if you taste Clos Saint-Jacques after Clos de la Roche, Ruchottes and Mazis from Dom. Armand Rousseau, Clos Saint-Jacques is always the best.  If this vineyard has such a good potential and quality, why is it just a Premier Cru?  There is a saying that in the 1930s when classification was happening, Clos Saint-Jacques was wholly owned by Comte de Moucheron.  Comte de Moucheron didn’t even bother to apply Grand Cru status for this vineyard.  As a result, it is classified as Premier Cru even though it is actually a better vineyard than some Gevrey’s Grand Cru such as Charmes and Chapelle.

Clos Saint-Jacques is very similar to Chambertin for both its soil composition and altitude.  It has almost perfect orientation towards south-east.  Clos Saint-Jacques has five producers today (Rousseau, Jadot, Fourrier, Sylvie Esmonin and Bruno Clair) and they are also reputable producers producing wines of very high quality.  As a result, Clos Saint-Jacques is almost always a guarantee of quality.  Dom. Armand Rousseau Clos Saint-Jacques 2002 is one of the best Burgundy I have ever tasted.  While it is very rich in flavour and quite full in body, it is extremely elegant that I would like to drink more and more!

Les Cazetiers (8.43 ha)

Les Cazetiers is another very high quality Premier Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin.  Still, it can rarely match the quality of Clos Saint-Jacques.  Les Cazetiers produced by reputable producers have all the necessary richess, elegance and complexity.  Recommended producers include Bruno Clair, Armand Rousseau, Faiveley, Christian Serafin, Louis Jadot, Dupont-Tisserandot and Philippe Naddef.

Lavaux Saint-Jacques (9.53 ha)

This is a good quality Premier Cru.  Even though it has a relatively cool climate, wines produced got all the necessary components a good Gevrey-Chambertin should have.  Wines are full, rich, elegance with strong red fruit flavours.  Recommended producers include Bernard Dugat-Py, Claude Dugat, Dupont-Tisserandot, Louis Jadot, Denis Mortet, Armand Rousseau  and Confuron-Cotetit.  This is a good source for reasonably priced good quality Gevrey-Chambertin.

La Combe au Moines (4.77 ha)

Another good quality Premier Cru located on the northern side of Les Cazetiers.  The whole vineyard is facing east.  Quality is not as good as Les Cazetier and usually not as elegant as well.  However, wines from Dom. Fourrier, Philippe Leclerc, Rene Leclerc, Louis Jadot and Faiveley can be very good.  This is another source of good Burgundy.

Champeaux (6.68 ha)

Next to Comte au Moines and deserve recommendation as well.  This is the northern most vineyard in Burgundy thus having a cool climate.  Comparing to Combe au Moines, it is more elegant and more fruitier.  Denis Mortet, Fourrier, Alain Burguet 和Philippe Naddeff are recommended producers.

*** Area Two ***

Les Corbeaux, Le Fonteny, Champonnet, Craipillot, Issarts

Area two includes Premier Cru vineyard between Ruchottes and Mazis-Bas and the village of Gevrey-Chambertin.  Generally speaking, quality here is not as good as area one.  Fonteny is the best vineyard in this area and Bruno Clair, Christian Serafin  and Joseph Roty are reccommended producers for Fonteny’s wines.

*** Area Three ***

Au Closeau, La Perriere, Clos Prieur, Cherbaudes, La Petite Chapelle, En Ergot

Area three is located on the lower-slope beneath Mazis and Chapelle.  Wines from this area is usually easy to drink but lacking complexity and concentration when comparing to area one and two.

*** Area Four ***

Bel Air, Aux Combottes

Area four is actually area not covered in area one, two and three.

Bel-Air

Bel-Air is located on the upper slope next to Clos de Beze.  Its high altitude means it has a very cool climate resulting wines in higher acidity.  Dom. Taupenot-Merme, Vougeraie and Philippe Charlopin-Parizot are very good producers producing wines from Bel-Air.

Aux Combottes

Just looking at the map, you can already easily expect Aux Combottes is a very high quality vineyard.  It sits between the two Grand Crus of Clos de la Roche and Latricieres.  However, Aux Combottes is located in a dip between the two Grand Crus and is more heavily influenced by the cool breeze of Comte de Grisard.  Wines from Aux Combottes usually may not have the concentration of Clos de la Roche and Latricieres.  Yet, Aux Combottes is still one of the best Premier Cru in Gevrey-Chambertin with wines worth looking for.  Aux Combottes from good producers such as Dujac, Herve Arland, Pierre Amiot and George Lignier can outperform wines from Chapelle and Charmes.