2014 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

According to Philippe Charlopin, 2014 is a rather fragile vintage for red Burgundy He told me he had a larger problem with quick ripening than with fruit flies and that it was “a big job to sort the fruit” Charlopin believes that the ‘14s are for drinking before the ‘12s, ‘10s, ‘09s and ‘08s Still, he added, an extended élevage was important for the 2014s “It would have been a mistake to bottle the wines after one year” Charlopin did his normal bottling, between May and early July of 2016, with relatively low levels of free and total sulfur, as usual Interestingly, Charlopin’s 2014s show a distinctly black fruit character In fact, he considers them darker and spicier than the ‘15s

According to Philippe Charlopin, 2014 is a rather fragile vintage for red Burgundy. He told me he had a larger problem with quick ripening than with fruit flies and that it was “a big job to sort the fruit.” Charlopin believes that the ‘14s are for drinking before the ‘12s, ‘10s, ‘09s and ‘08s. Still, he added, an extended élevage was important for the 2014s. “It would have been a mistake to bottle the wines after one year.” Charlopin did his normal bottling, between May and early July of 2016, with relatively low levels of free and total sulfur, as usual. Interestingly, Charlopin’s 2014s show a distinctly black fruit character. In fact, he considers them darker and spicier than the ‘15s.

Philippe Charlopin’s 2014s were without question the darkest set of wines I tasted from this vintage; some of them looked more like Syrah than Pinot Noir. But the best of them display penetrating Pinot minerality. Charlopin, who exploits 25 hectares of vines of which he owns 15, started harvesting on September 15, with grape sugars between 11. 5% and 12%, and chaptalized up to a full degree. Yields ranged from 40 to 50 hectoliters per hectare. Charlopin describes the vintage as “un style gourmand, best for drinking between five and ten years from now. ” But the wines, he added, have been getting more powerful during élevage.

The '14s were still in barrels when I tasted them in December; they had been sulfured a month before my visit. Charlopin planned to rack them in February and bottle in late March. Incidentally, Charlopin now ages his grand crus in 40% to 50% new oak; as recently as 2006, these wines were aged in 100% new barrels.