Domaine Rossignol-Trapet En Primeur 2022

This 1.2 hectare plot, planted in 1978, is on the high part of Teurons, close to the woods and beside Aux Cras. This is a stony, iron-rich red soil. The cliff at the top of the slope reflects the sun and, along with the trees, protects the vines, making for early ripening. A Teurons of bright raspberry fruit, juicy and joyful, with supple tannins. Irrepresible, this is a great start (it was the first 2022 I tasted!) 10% new oak, with 50% whole-bunch vinification. 

Aux Etelois is a lieu-dit just downslope from grands crus Chapelle- and Griotte-Chambertin. The soils here are very stony. I had always assumed the name derived from étoille but, less romantically, it appears to come from the Latin for ‘hut’. Which just does to show that you shouldn’t look up everything. Enticingly spicy on the nose, with poised, cool raspberry aromas and a hint of cedary richness behind. The palate is sappy and supple, the red berry flavours delineated by a hint of undergrowth and a line of dark rocky minerality. Then the merest squeeze of fine tannin on the finish. This hangs together beautifully. Tasted in London in January 2024.

This is a selection from just over five hectares of 45-85 year old vines, across eight different parcels, with light gravelly soils. Dark and sinewy, the naturally robust tannins here are fleshed out by juicy raspberry and blackberry fruit, coming to a sappy point on the long finish. Lovely rose perfume and exotic spices. Two thirds whole-bunch fermentation, 10% new oak. This is the domaine’s highest production cuvée: around 20,000 bottles were made in 2022. 

This comes from a 0.25 hectare plot planted in 1986. Sometimes called a ‘baby Mazis’, it is just down the slope and across the road from Mazis-Chambertin. Intense dark berry perfume. The palate is rich and lushly fruited, whilst retaining a core of fresh acidity which enlivens the impressive raspberry and blackberry fruit. Two thirds whole-bunch fermentation, with 25% new oak. 

Just beneath Clos de Bèze, Petite Chapelle has a 1.5m deep layer of top-soil and, in Nicolas’ words, is “full of clay”. This is a 0.5 hectare holding, straddling both lieux-dits of Petite Chapelle. Dark and saturated, this is a wine of substance in 2022. The fine tannins have a fleshy fruit-coating, with demonstrative red berry and cherry fruit. Rich and showing its clay-heavy soils. Two thirds whole-bunch fermentation, with 25% new oak. 

One parcel here dates from the 1930s and another was planted after the 1956 frost. Latricières is once again the most aromatically expressive of the grands crus, perhaps due to its breezier, less protected aspect. Dark, forest fruit aromas, this has the coolness of Latricieres, with the natural exuberance of 2022. The palate is lush and supple, with blackberry coulis and sweet redcurrant overlaying the fine precision of this site. Two thirds whole-bunch vinification, with 40% new oak. 

The domaine’s Chapelle-Chambertin comes from two parcels – En la Chapelle (planted in the 1960s) and Les Gémeaux (planted in 1924). Both are warm sites, directly below Clos de Bèze, with a mere 50 centimetres of soil above the rock. These tend to be slightly earlier-ripening than the other grands crus. The soil consists of layers of rock, with holes into which the roots can penetrate.The warmer soils here tend to make for a more opulent wine. In 2022, there is certainly more red berry fruit compared to Latricières but, when tasted in October 2023, this was easier to access and more immediate – a disarmingly pretty, yet dense wine. Two thirds whole-bunch vinification, with 40% new oak. 

The domaine’s Chambertin is from two parcels in the centre of that great terroir, which run the length of the vineyard from top to bottom, and are simply known as ‘north’ (a third) and ‘south’ (two thirds). Clenched and powerful on the nose, without giving much away. The palate is similarly tight, with a generous fruit-coating to the muscular, chalky tannins. It is not until the finish that you get a little sashaying exuberance and flair. As shy as it is at present, I think this is going to be very special. Two thirds whole-bunch vinification, with 40% new oak.