Critics reviews
Pierre Rovani - 31/08/1997
About this WINE
Domaine Jean Grivot
Jean Grivot took over from his father, Gaston, in 1955. He handed the domaine on to son Étienne – married to Marielle Bize from Savigny – in the early 1980s. When Etienne Grivot took over, the house style was for gentle, graceful wines, perhaps a little weak in lesser vintages.
Étienne has since found his own voice, making a range of increasingly fine wines. Since the mid-2000s, he has reduced yields and fine-tuned vineyard and cellar work. The next generation – Mathilde and Hubert – are increasingly influential, working under their father’s experienced and wise guidance.
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.
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Description
One of the finest Clos Vougeot's produced in 1995, Grivot's exhibits a bright, medium-to-dark ruby color. Its sublime aromatics include Asian spices, cinnamon, violets and ripe red fruits. This full-bodied wine offers a thick texture and an amazingly refined yet powerful burst of sweet cherries, spices, and minerals. Not surprisingly, this wine boasts a spectacularly long well-defined finish. It will be in its prime between 2004-2012. The Domaine Jean Grivot is brilliantly run by Jean's son Etienne Grivot. As I mentioned in the introduction to my Cote de Nuits report (Issue #110), he is one of the young vignerons responsible for the higher quality of Burgundy's wines. His 1995s were among the best wines I tasted in the Cote d'Or, bringing together superb balance with thick, concentrated, elegant fruit.
Pierre Rovani - 31/08/1997
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