2017 Richebourg Grand Cru

Alongside Louis-Michel Liger-Belair’s vertiginous ascent, Grivot has been the success story in Vosne-Romanée over the last decade. In the past, it has not been easy for Etienne Grivot, criticized for using the consultant Guy Accad in the late 1980s and early 90s, and producing wines from propitious terroirs that never quite reached the heights of his peers. As a consequence, market prices were low. I regularly bought Grivot’s wines simply because they were affordable. Things have changed. Grivot is held in higher esteem, and rightly so, thanks to a plethora of stunning wines amongst the very best within the appellation. Time and again, Grivot has triumphed in blind tastings. They have invested in both their vineyard and their winery. I wish all domaines’ tasting rooms were as comfortable as Grivot’s, blessed with a splendid view across the rooftops and towards Romanée-Saint-Vivant. Another important factor has been the seamless transition from Etienne and his wife Marielle, sister of the late Patrick Bize, to his talented daughter Mathilde and son Hubert. One can sense Etienne relaxing his shoulders, putting all confidence in the next generation who will take this 15-hectare domaine forward.

One debut that caught my eye is Grivot’s Côteaux Bourguignon. “That comes from a parcel planted in 1947 by my grandfather,” Etienne told me. “My mother told me never to uproot that 1.5-hectare parcel because her father said that it was where their family’s money used to come from. I would bring bottles to university during my studies in the 1970s. All the students thought it was a Musigny or a Chambertin.” This is a seriously fine addition to Grivot’s portfolio and though the palate gives away the grape variety, I would be damned if I could distinguish it from a Pinot Noir, just like those students Etienne duped many years ago.

“At the end of April, we didn’t have frost, just a little for the Bourgogne Rouge,” Mathilde explained as I took a short break during the tasting. “The vegetative cycle was early, one of the three earliest on record at the domaine, and it seemed we might pick in late August. But the dry summer retarded the cycle a little. We didn’t start the harvest until September 12 because we found some greenness in the skins and it seemed better to wait. The vineyard was in perfect condition with long days and lots of light. The potential alcohol was between 12.5° and 13.5°. Together with my brother, I began working with my father in 2010, and we found 2017 the easiest to harvest so far, plus it is the first time we saw all the tanks with a normal quantity. The 2017 vintage is 100% de-stemmed but we have a technique to retain the full berries. We take out the stem but retain enough juice to pump over and aerate the must. At the end of the alcoholic fermentation we started to crush and do more pigeage and we find there is a kind of alcoholic fermentation inside the berries that gives the sensation of whole bunches.” Etienne added, “We have discovered the verticality of the vintage during the barrel ageing. We had enough space not to rack the wines to make way for the 2018 and we feel that they needed more oxygen. We have not racked yet but we will do that before Christmas and bottle next February.”

The 2017s reaffirm Grivot as one of the leading domaines in the appellation where nearly everything from the Richebourg down to the Côteaux Bourguignon has quality stamped all over it. Though synonymous with Vosne-Romanée, there are almost as many cuvées in neighboring Nuits Saint-Georges, where both Aux Boudots and Les Pruliers shine. In Vosne-Romanée itself you will find the finest Aux Reignots in this vintage and a beautiful Aux Brûlées, closely followed by a sensual Les Suchots. An outside bet? Check out the Vosne-Romanée Les Rouges, one of the lesser-known cuvées and one of the best I have tasted. As usual, there is a sense of luxuriousness throughout these wines, pure, mainly red fruit and a surfeit of freshness and poise towards the finish. They achieve that liminal point between extravagance and tension that ensures these wines remain coveted by the cognoscenti.