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Domaine Joseph Roty

Pierre-Jean Roty was in sparkling form when I called in at the winery in Gevrey-Chambertin, his mum providing her “100-point” gougeres as usual. I nibbled only a couple as I had dinner that evening. Along with Sylvain Pataille, Roty is my go-to producer for excellent Marsannays, though recent vintages have been acutely affected by frost, to the extent that in 2016, many single-vineyard bottlings were either destroyed entirely or blended into multi-vineyard cuvées. The 2017 vintage sees their welcome return, and they offer great value if your wallet does not stretch wide enough for Roty’s Grand Cru offerings. “It was easier than in 2016,” Pierre-Jean Roty told me. “We had a little hydric stress but our techniques in the vineyard meant the vines did not suffer. We did not de-leaf at all during the season but we green harvested at the end of July and then again at the end of August [like Domaine d’Eugénie] to ensure that we had a uniform maturation of bunches. We started picking on September 12 and over the following eight days. Very little sorting was necessary and we cropped at about 46hl/ha. The whites came in at around 13.5°, and 12.8° to 13.5° for the reds, with just a small amount of chaptalisation to extend the fermentation and gain more substance. The pH was very good and the colour was extracted easily. Overall, it was much easier than in 2016 and it was a vintage of quantity and quality. You might call it a combination of 2009 and 2014.”

I have tasted Roty’s wines for almost two decades now. The family has suffered more than their fair share of tragedy, not least the untimely passing of Philippe Roty at 46. But Pierre-Jean, the 11th generation of the Roty family, stepped into the breach and has done an excellent job of keeping the domaine moving forward whilst never forgetting everything that Philippe taught him. As usual, these wines are quite bold and forward in style, intense and packed full of fruit, with grip and girth. Yet Pierre-Jean manages to imbue them with countervailing freshness and vitality that ensures that many will repay cellaring. My picks include a stunning Côtes de Nuits-Village that must surely offer unbeatable value once released, a superb Marsannay Les Ouzeloy and a very classy Gevrey Fonteny; amongst the Grand Crus, as I opined to Pierre-Jean at the time, it is not the Charmes-Chambertin that caught my eye but the Griotte-Chambertin.

From 2017 Burgundy: A Modern Classic (Jan 2019) by Neal Martin

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2017 Bourgogne Aligoté

Color: White

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Domaine Joseph Roty

2017 Bourgogne Aligoté

2017 Bourgogne Blanc

2017 Bourgogne Pressonier

2017 Bourgogne Rouge

2017 Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru

2017 Côtes de Nuits-Villages

2017 Côteaux Bourguignon

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Fontenys 1er Cru

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Champs-Chenys Vieilles Vignes

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Prieur Bas

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin La Brunelle

2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Village

2017 Griottes-Chambertin Grand Cru

2017 Marsannay Village

2017 Marsannay Blanc

2017 Marsannay Boivin

2017 Marsannay Champs Saint-Etienne

2017 Marsannay Clos de Jeu

2017 Marsannay Les Ouzeloy

2017 Rosé Marsannay

2017 Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru

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