Domaine Ghislaine Barthod
As always, Ghislaine gives a very thoughtful, un-mediatised version of the vintage: it was a cool damp summer, there was some rot, sorting was necessary, but afterwards the fruit was healthy. She began picking on Sunday 14th September, when the grapes were just ripe, and still had very good acidity. Ghislaine may be modest about her wines, but we think they are fabulous this year!
As always, Ghislaine gives a very thoughtful, un-mediatised version of the vintage: it was a cool damp summer, there was some rot, sorting was necessary, but afterwards the fruit was healthy. She began picking on Sunday 14th September, when the grapes were just ripe, and still had very good acidity. Ghislaine may be modest about her wines, but we think they are fabulous this year!
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
These wines all reflect the magical Barthod house style of perfumed energy, while each one retains the differences of its terroir. Ghislaine started relatively early, on 22nd September, and reports that vinification was straightforward compared to the viticulture. Her yields are 15 - 20% below the small harvests of 2010 and 2011, so overall a meagre half crop in 2012. Or to put it another way, one whole crop missing across the three vintages.
Jasper Morris MW,Berrys' Burgundy Director Given that the sugar levels are not high in 2011, Ghislaine Barthod expected something lighter this year. However, the wines have come out with good texture and density. While accessible in the medium term, they show an attractive freshness and energy which puts them into a different class from the attractive 2007s. Chambolle-Musigny has done well in 2011, since the style of the appellation appreciates the fresher aspect of lower alcohol levels.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director
Ghislaine Barthod harvested her small crop, 35% to 40% down on 2009, from 24th September over 5 days. She feels that the wines are riper than 2002, our suggestion for a comparable vintage. We tasted on a day shrouded in mist when everything seemed dank and dour, so it is more than likely that Ghislaines wines will turn out more lively and fragrant than reported below, when the structure appeared to dominate.
Given that the sugar levels are not high in 2011, Ghislaine Barthod expected something lighter this year. However, the wines have come out with good texture and density. While accessible in the medium term, they show an attractive freshness and energy which puts them into a different class from the attractive 2007s. Chambolle-Musigny has done well in 2011, since the style of the appellation appreciates the fresher aspect of lower alcohol levels.
Pretty, perfumed and very fresh, this is absolutely what one expects from Chambolle-Musigny. With a little touch of briars, it is slightly peppery in the mouth before exquisite pure and perfumed fruit appears on the finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
With prices in Burgundy still rising, even if often for understandable reasons, the appellations Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge are great places to look for affordable wines. You get the opportunity to drink wine from a top winemaker, from vines which are adjacent to the famous villages, and which will be accessible earlier. The 2005 Bourgognes Rouges are still delicious and youthful more than 10 years later, but most wines have been drinking well for a few years now.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
Picking began here on 4th September and took five days in incredibly easy conditions. The thick skins on the grapes and the ease with which the colour emerged meant that it was important not to go chasing the tannins, according to Ghislaine, so she used pumping over rather than punching down. All bunches were de-stemmed as usual. The crop is, once again, slightly on the small side.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
Picking began here on 4th September and took five days in incredibly easy conditions. The thick skins on the grapes and the ease with which the colour emerged meant that it was important not to go chasing the tannins, according to Ghislaine, so she used pumping over rather than punching down. All bunches were de-stemmed as usual. The crop is, once again, slightly on the small side.
Ghislaine Barthod's domaine originates in the 1920s with Marcel Noëllat whose daughter married Gaston Barthod, a soldier stationed in Dijon who came to buy some wine and got the girl as well. He gave up military life for the vineyards in 1960. His daughter, Ghislaine, and her partner Louis Boillot bought their current premises overlooking 1er cru Les Feusselottes in 1986. Though they share the team who work the vineyards for both of them, the vinification and commercial aspects of their businesses are kept completely separate. Ghislaine's father Gaston died in 1999, yet effectively Ghislaine had been making the wine for the last decade or so.
The grapes are destalked, allowed a brief cool soak, then fermented with more punching down than pumping over. Barrel maturation does not rely on new oak, with no more than 30% for the premiers crus. The wines are usually bottled after 18 months, after one racking.
The strength of the domaine is the range of Chambolle wines, with eight separate premier cru bottlings. While each wine displays the idiosyncracies of its particular terroir, the overall effect of tasting at the domaine is to come away with a palate coated in sensual Chambolle fruit. There is an adorable Bourgogne Rouge as well, from the Bons Bâtons vineyard across the main road. Ghislaine Barthod's wines are always supremely elegant and harmonious and display admirable concentration and length. The best examples can age gracefully for up to twenty years.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director and author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.