Chappelle-Chambertin

Showing a touch more colour and a slightly firmer nose than Latricières, this is very complete, with greater density, dark red cherries, excellent structure and a very fine finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director The early growing season in 2011 was beneficial to ripening the stems, so Nicolas and David Rossignol opted to use more this year, as they also did in 2009. The wines below were made with 25% stems in general and up to 50% for the Grand Crus. This will have influenced the structure of the wines, but it does not show in the fruit profile. The Rossignols continue to develop their style towards finesse, especially in the finish of their wines and these show very good result this year.

Noticeably a fuller purple colour than other wines from the Rossignol-Trapet stable, this Chapelle-Chambertin has a really stylish and graceful nose. The fruit coats the mouth, without massive density, and the stems have been used to provide freshness - as this wine always produces soft ripe fruit. This is a great success in 2010.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

Several years down the road since they switched to biodynamic farming, the Rossignol brothers are looking at ways to fine-tune the finished product with a few tweaks in their cellar work. They have been careful to aerate their excellent 2010s throughout the vinification process to avoid any problems of reduction and to soften the end palate of the wines. Some stems were used again this year, albeit less than in 2009.

Although very backward at this early stage in its life, this shows signs of depth and concentration with an explosion of black cherry fruit on the palate kept fresh by a core of crystalline minerality. I suspect this wine may need up to two decades for all the complexities on the palate to be fully revealed. 

A fine, medium-deep red-purple, the colour and bouquet are both more restrained than Latricières, before some attractive dark cherry notes start to arrive. This is supple, refined and very long indeed, even more than the Latricières. The finish is truly astonishing. Drink 2025-2035.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Nicolas and David Rossignol report a healthy crop in quality and quantity, though a little reduced in the Grands Crus. They began on 7th September, using around 50 percent whole bunches, and avoided any punching down during vinification as there was no need to search for extraction, preferring a daily pumping-over and aeration. As ever there is only a modest use of new oak and sulphur levels are kept low. They have made unquestionably brilliant wines this year.

Most of the vines are in the En La Chapelle section, with a quarter in Les Gémeaux. The latter has deeper soil, and its component is rounder and riper. Blended with En La Chapelle’s cooler style, this becomes a high- toned, succulently fruity red, with such a bright line of freshness. This is really energising. Drink 2025-2035.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

The domaine was created through the marriage of Jacques Rossignol of Volnay with Mado Trapet from a noted family in Gevrey-Chambertin. Their sons Nicolas and David Rossignol have managed the domaine since 1990, moving subsequently to biodynamic farming. The first experiments started in 1997 with their Chapelle- Chambertin, followed by conversion of the whole domaine in 2004. Vinification includes a small proportion of whole bunches, while the trend in recent years has been to look for an increasingly elegant expression of Pinot Noir. It’s a remarkable cellar this year, with brothers Nicolas and David radiating calm and understanding. As elsewhere, this was a very challenging vintage for them, especially in Beaune, the village Gevrey vines and Le Chambertin. Containing the mildew required an incredible amount of work by hand. Their biodynamic strategy seems to have paid off though; after a slow start to the range, the impression was of incremental qualities. Intensity, not density. Nicolas and David referred us to Nono, Love and the Soil by Gaston Roupnel, a novelist born in Gevrey.

This is Domaine Louis Jadot, and is from vines planted in 1921. This is exceptional in 2016; a fine, graceful flow of pure fruit, laced with a hint of graphite and elevated by subliminal freshness. The finish is long and detailed; it could be even better than the 2015. Drink 2025-2035.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

The house of Louis Jadot was founded in 1859 though the family had previously been vignerons in the region, acquiring their famous Clos des Ursules in 1826. The company is today run by Pierre-Henri Gagey, while Frédéric Barnier replaced veteran winemaker Jacques Lardière in 2013. Louis Jadot owns over 60 hectares of vineyard, many of them Premier and Grand Cru. Recent developments have included the establishment of the tonnellerie Cadus in Ladoix-Serrigny and expansion of the modern winery facilities on the Route de Savigny, with a new white-wine vinification centre completed in 2009. Jadot’s harvest ran from 25th September to 14th October, with conditions marked by cool winds and sunshine. For the whites, malolactic fermentation was blocked to leave one to 1.5 grams of malic acid. The idea is to use this freshness as a textural component to help the wines during their maturation, much like tannin in red wines. Jadot’s choice of Diam corks since 2011 has allowed a reduction in the level of SO2, lowering the level of reduction and also any sharpness that can evolve with SO2 and malic acid in combination.