DOMAINE
JOSEPH ROTY
2020 Vintage

The Roty Bourgogne Blanc is 80% Pinot Blanc (planted 1990) and 20% Chardonnay. It comes from parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin and Marsannay. White peaches, pears and lemon zest – crunchy and bright, with fresh acidity. This spent 18 months in old oak barrels.

This is made from two parcels in Marsannay: Champs Saint-Étienne and Boivin. Ample and rich, with stony minerality and ripe white peach fruit. The finish is clipped and grippy, with salty texture.

These are 50+ year-old vines. The grapes are destemmed and given a week of cold pre-fermentation maceration, before gentle direct pressing – the juice remains in the press for two hours at a gentle pressure, to extract the phenolics naturally. Salmon-pink in colour, with leafy strawberry fruit and fresh, steely acidity. 18 months’ ageing in three-year-old oak barrels.

Although labelled Bourgogne Rouge, this comes from Marsannay, from two warm parcels, 40-60+ years old, called Champforey and Leautier. Purple hued forest fruits, with bitter cherry and phenomenal richness. This punches way above its weight.

A Gevrey-Chambertin in all but name, this parcel having been within the appellation boundary until 1964. It lies across the Route Nationale from Clos Prieur-Bas. The oldest vines here date from 1925, with the youngest having been planted in 2012. Lighter on its feet than the basic Bourgogne Rouge, with an airy prettiness.

The Coteaux Bourguignons appellation dates from 2011, replacing Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire. Although Gamay is permitted, this wine has always been 100% Pinot Noir. The vines are nearly 40 years old, a massal selection from family holdings. This parcel is just below the Gevrey-Chambertin boundary, planted by Pierre-Jean’s father Joseph. Dark and spicy, with a substantial palate of grippy, powerful tannins. Impressively structured, demanding a little patience, with bright nervy energy.

This is a blend of five parcels, comprising the domaine’s lieux-dits other than Champs Saint-Étienne (below). The average vine age is 80 years. Violets and peonies, with a flavour-packed core of bright berry fruit, framed by fine tannins.

The domaine is the only producer to make Champs Saint-Étienne as an individual cuvée. It has 0.75 hectares of Marsannay, most of which is planted to Pinot Noir, the vines being over 50 years old. Dark berry aromas, with an attractive violet perfume. The palate is silky and seductive, very fine. This is a pick.

This comes from a well-sited vineyard in Brochon called Queue de Hareng. It is just beyond the Gevrey boundary, between Fixin 1er Cru La Perrière and Gevrey-Chambertin Les Évocelles, high on the slope, on the edge of the forest. The vines are over 50 years old. This sneaks up on you, the calm aromas leading into a surprisingly powerful, juicy palate of bright raspberry and blackberry fruit.

The domaine’s Gevrey village is a blend of four parcels in the centre of the appellation, two from each side of the Route Nationale, accounting for just under a hectare in total. A wine of luminous, rich, sweet berry fruit, lifted by bright acidity. Fresh, focused finish, with lingering violets. Wonderful.

Planted by Pierre-Jean’s father and grandfather, the 0.25 hectare La Brunelle is a walled vineyard directly behind the domaine buildings, in the centre of the town of Gevrey-Chambertin. Being a warm, humid plot, it is always the first to be harvested. Violet aromas herald a sweetly, darkly fruited palate of simply stunning elegance. This hangs together beautifully, with fine, fruit coated tannins. The small, millerand berries make for a textural, shapely finish.

Clos Prieur Bas is planted on similar soil to Charmes-Chambertin – clay and Bajocian limestone. The higher part of this vineyard, Clos Prieur Haut, is a premier cru. This lower part has deeper soils – the domaine’s plot is at the southern end, next to the premier cru and beside the holding of Armand Rousseau. Cool, very dark berries, with a focused chalky-mineral structure. Tightly wound, this is elegant and will repay cellaring.

This is a blend of five parcels across the lieu-dit, one of which borders Charmes-Chambertin. The oldest vines here were planted in 1934 and are ungrafted, on their own roots. Lifted bitter cherries and plushly fruit-coated tannins, sustained by fresh tensile acidity. Fine, grippy tannins on the finish.

This comes from the heart of a parcel within this special warm hollow, a geological quirk of the Gevrey landscape. It tends to be one of the first Pinot Noir plots to be picked. The name Fontenys alludes to a ‘little fountain' apparently. Dark chocolatey aromas, with violets, bramble and roses. The palate has a white pepper spiciness, with a lifted elegance and a deft lightness of touch.

Sometimes spelt ‘Mazis’, the Rotys’ holding in ‘Mazy’ is adjacent to Domaine Dugat-Py’s. A section of these vines was planted in 1919. Dark and spicy, with sweet, small berries and fabulous density. This has a tight core of tannin and deeply, richly berried fruit, which will be fabulous given due patience.

This is the oldest of the Roty holdings, originally planted in 1881 – ‘very’ old vines indeed. It produces small millerand berries, which tend to be among the first picked. A wine of depth and richness, open and with an apparently endless profondeur. Pierre-Jean Roty said it reminded him of the 1995 vintage, for its sweetness and drive. Violet perfume lingers on the long, long finish.