2015 Chambertin Grand Cru

Like so many of his colleagues on the Côte d’Or, Jean-Louis Trapet called attention to “the superb differences between the crus” in 2016. He described the young wines as “very concentrated, dense and ripe, with mature tannins” and compared them to his 2010s and 2002s. But he admitted that in 2015, “everything is good,” while there are more differences in 2016. Trapet produced about 30 hectoliters per hectare in '16 from his vineyards that were not touched by frost, noting that he also had to spray his vines in late spring wearing a backpack because with all the rainfall from April through early June it was impossible to get any heavy equipment into the vineyards. The worst period, he told me, was during June, and especially during the flowering, when mildew affected the flowering buds.

Trapet started harvesting on Monday, September 26 and finished at the end of that week, just as rain began to fall. Some wines did not require chaptalization but others did, especially the frosted Marsannay. Trapet told me he “respected the idea of the vintage,” and that 2016 was "a little like the older vintages in Burgundy, with a good range of maturity, including some fruit at 11% potential alcohol but also some that was almost overripe.” He cut back slightly on his use of whole clusters and did more pumpovers than punchdowns. He was in the middle of racking the ‘16s—and sulfuring them for the first time—when I stopped by to taste in November.

As to 2015, Trapet says that this is “without doubt a great vintage, with more structural support than--but not as Burgundian as--the 2016s, which can be even better than the ‘15s at their best. The 2015s are very consistent, while the ‘16s are more genial, and possibly a little facile, although they also have a firm framework of acidity and minerality.” Trapet, who bottled his ‘15s in April of this year, vinified these wines with 50% whole clusters due to the maturity of the fruit. “The stems gave the wines a needed green touch and energy,” he explained.

“It was a good thing that we were forced to pick in a narrow window in 2015,” said Jean-Louis Trapet in December. “Otherwise the alcohol levels might have been way too high.” Trapet began on September 6 with grape sugars around 12.5% and finished on September 11 with 13.5+% potential alcohol. There was concentration through evaporation during the hot days at the end of August but the pHs in the post-malo wines are in the healthy 3.4 range and Trapet told me he’s shocked by the structure and freshness of the ‘15s. “It’s a great year that combines ripeness and a firm mineral framework,” he summarized. In fact, some of these young 2015s display a dynamism that reminds me of the 2010s. No doubt his vinification with 40% to 100% whole clusters—not to mention his soft extraction and organic farming—was constructive.