Domaine Jean Grivot
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
A late cycle all the way though, in 2013 Etienne started picking from 5th October. After conferring with his aunt Jacqueline Jayer, he noted that 2013 shares the same harvest dates as 1978 and also that in both vintages there were very few pips in the grapes and they were fully ripe. Low sugar levels, ripe skins and good acidity should lead to fine wines with excellent keeping qualities.
Étienne Grivot reports better yields in 2014, about halfway between the miserable crops of the previous four vintages and what would count as a very good year. The grapes are de-stemmed but preserved fully intact using the newest model of destemmer. They were totally healthy in 2014 and Mathilde Grivot describes the wines as being accessible, fresh, yet still complex. We would add that they are – yet again – amongst the finest of the whole Côte.
Étienne Grivot reports better yields in 2014, about halfway between the miserable crops of the previous four vintages and what would count as a very good year. The grapes are de-stemmed but preserved fully intact using the newest model of destemmer. They were totally healthy in 2014 and Mathilde Grivot describes the wines as being accessible, fresh, yet still complex. We would add that they are – yet again – amongst the finest of the whole Côte.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
Etienne Grivot describes his 2012s as having glamour on top of the sophistication of 2010. He notes also the generosity of fruit married to perfect acidity in 2012. It was no hardship tasting our way through his range. One minor added sophistication in the Grivot cellar is an amendment to his barrel regime – he now specifies an extra long chauffe to his barrels, though without going beyond his usual medium toast. High prices but fabulous quality.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer)
Nuits St Georges is renowned for its rich, weighty wines, the most stylish of which come from the Vosne-Romanee side of the appellation. Amongst these Aux Lavieres is a well thought of lieu-dit beneath premier cru Les Murgers.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
Etienne Grivot describes his 2012s as having glamour on top of the sophistication of 2010. He notes also the generosity of fruit married to perfect acidity in 2012. It was no hardship tasting our way through his range. One minor added sophistication in the Grivot cellar is an amendment to his barrel regime – he now specifies an extra long chauffe to his barrels, though without going beyond his usual medium toast. High prices but fabulous quality.
Etienne Grivot‘s village Vosne punches well above its weight and would put many Premier Crus to shame. A hugely impressive nose is followed by similar Vosne silkiness and class in the mouth. The structure is there but the fruit hangs beautifully on the bones. This is exceptional and the seductive bouquet stays in the glass for as long as the velvety fruit stays in the mouth. This really is one of the best addresses in Vosne.
(BBR Fine Wine)
With fine and gentle aromas, and a velvety touch to the palate, Grivot's Vosne-Romanée is restrained now but will be delightful from 2012 onwards.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Burgundy Buyer)
Etienne has produced some spectacular wines in this vintage. Bright in colour, wonderfully elegant and aromatic, this wine has density, muscle and refinement with sweet and well integrated tannins.
Francis Huicq - London Shop Manager
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director
This has been one of the most exciting cellars in the whole of Burgundy for the last few vintages, a fact which is beginning to be reflected in the pricing. The significant reduction in crop this year, which Etienne Grivot ascribes more to the extreme winter cold than poor flowering, is also a factor. Etienne has been working hard to refine the tannins in his wines, and has surely succeeded in 2010, by producing wines of great energy but with suave, sophisticated finishes. These are brilliant wines that unfortunately, are in short supply.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director
This has been one of the most exciting cellars in the whole of Burgundy for the last few vintages, a fact which is beginning to be reflected in the pricing. The significant reduction in crop this year, which Etienne Grivot ascribes more to the extreme winter cold than poor flowering, is also a factor. Etienne has been working hard to refine the tannins in his wines, and has surely succeeded in 2010, by producing wines of great energy but with suave, sophisticated finishes. These are brilliant wines that unfortunately, are in short supply.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director
This has been one of the most exciting cellars in the whole of Burgundy for the last few vintages, a fact which is beginning to be reflected in the pricing. The significant reduction in crop this year, which Etienne Grivot ascribes more to the extreme winter cold than poor flowering, is also a factor. Etienne has been working hard to refine the tannins in his wines, and has surely succeeded in 2010, by producing wines of great energy but with suave, sophisticated finishes. These are brilliant wines that unfortunately, are in short supply.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director This domaine continues to deliver exceptionally high quality wines and is surely now one of the brightest jewels in the crown of Vosne-Romanée. The harvest began on 31st August in 2011 and that is the earliest ever at this domaine. Etienne Grivot was happy to pick at 12 to 12.5%, seeing no value in waiting and losing acidity. The wines have a dramatic tension to them in youth and will certainly age exceptionally well.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director This domaine continues to deliver exceptionally high quality wines and is surely now one of the brightest jewels in the crown of Vosne-Romanée. The harvest began on 31st August in 2011 and that is the earliest ever at this domaine. Etienne Grivot was happy to pick at 12 to 12.5%, seeing no value in waiting and losing acidity. The wines have a dramatic tension to them in youth and will certainly age exceptionally well.
Oh my! Jean Grivot is on great form this year, as ever. His wines have taken on an ethereal quality in 2009 and it really shows in the ever-popular village Vosne-Romanee. Silk, perfume, generous glossy redcurrant and raspberry fruit make this a choice for the vintage. Haunting!
(Stuart Rae, Cellar Plan Account Manager)
A gently restrained, elegant bouquet with attractive black fruit notes. This Vosne-Romanée from Jean Grivot is a wine of pure class more than obvious seduction, with an impressively long finish.
(Jasper Morris MW, BBR Buyer)
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
Etienne Grivot held off until 10th September because he felt the tannins were not quite ripe before then. Sugar levels never rose too high and acidity levels are good. When asked to describe the vintage, Etienne opined that 2015 has “charm and sensuality up front, energy behind; a charming but sophisticated vintage”. The vintage continues a superb recent run from the Grivots, with Etienne as éminence grise and Mathilde taking increasing responsibility during vinification.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
Etienne Grivot held off until 10th September because he felt the tannins were not quite ripe before then. Sugar levels never rose too high and acidity levels are good. When asked to describe the vintage, Etienne opined that 2015 has “charm and sensuality up front, energy behind; a charming but sophisticated vintage”. The vintage continues a superb recent run from the Grivots, with Etienne as éminence grise and Mathilde taking increasing responsibility during vinification.
Etienne Grivot and his wife Marielle (Patrick Bize's sister) took over from his father in 1990, making him the fifth generation of Grivots to make wine in Vosne-Romanée. In the 1930s it was one of the first domaines to bottle and sell the wines themselves. The Grivots go back a long way in Burgundy. Indeed two previous generations of Grivots have married girls of the same surname. Jean Grivot, whose name continues to appear on the labels, took over from his father in 1955 and handed on to his son Etienne in the early 1980s.
Etienne, married to Marielle Bize from Savigny, has been through a number of incarnations as winemaker here. When he took over, his father’s style was for gentle, graceful wines which perhaps were a little weak in the lesser vintages. In 1994, a difficult year but a breakthrough vintage at the domaine, Etienne began to find his own voice and made a range of very fine wines given how poor the weather was. Since then he has not looked back and a drive to reduce yields and fine-tune his work in the vineyards and cellar since the mid-2000s continues to drive quality upwards.
Recently big strides have been made on the viticultural front. Etienne has bought a Chenillard caterpillar tractor to work some of the more inaccessible vines and has hired a horse, Pirate, to plough his Richebourg, Échezeaux, Beaumonts, Brûlées, Suchots, Boudots and some village Vosne vineyards. He is not a fan of training the vines too high or of leaf-plucking on the south side, as he prefers a long, slow ripening period.
The grapes are 100 percent de-stemmed, though with some experiments where stalks are retained, and the fermentation allowed to start naturally, with a little punching down before this starts. Thereafter there is no more pigeage: “I don’t like to mix the physical [punching down] with the spiritual [fermentation],” says Etienne. Thereafter there is one pump-over per day, before the wines go to barrel once fermentation has finished. Four tonneliers are used so as to avoid the signature of any one. Etienne prefers the wood from the Allier, Tronçais and Bertranges forests, and now buys some of his own wood.
There is an average age of 45- to 50-year-old vines across this 15-hectare domaine which covers 22 appellations (18 red) with holdings in Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-St Georges, Clos de Vougeot, Échezeaux and Richebourg. Etienne produces a range of stunning wines which possess real depth and class. In answer to a question over the secret of his success, he confides, “There's no recipe; it's very personal. As a result, it's very frustrating as one's never content."
The succession to the next generation is now well underway, with Mathilde and Hubert increasingly influential, under their father’s experienced and wise guidance.
These are very personal and undeniably fine wines, with dramatically aromatic notes of red fruits, becoming denser up the range.