2017 Chambertin Grand Cru

Domaine Rossignol-Trapet rarely attracts headlines and yet they consistently produce very fine wines that deserve more attention. Maybe that is because brothers Nicolas and David Rossignol are not attention-seekers and prefer to let their wines do the talking. Certainly, the wines are vastly improved since the brothers began in 1990, and the last decade has seen an upswing in quality as they veered towards biodynamics in the vineyard, more “infusion” winemaking and less intervention, including prudent use of new oak.

“It was a precocious season, but not that hot – less hot than 2018,” David Rossignol told me in the upstairs tasting room. “There were only two or three very hot days. The wines are aromatic and quite open, the personality of each terroir expressed. For the winemakers it is a Zen vintage - no stress. It was a lovely spring, a fine summer, very regular, nothing too much. We started the harvest on September 7 and picked over the next week, commencing with Beaune, although we picked the Gevrey Combottes with a small team on the afternoon of September 5. We conducted a green harvest in some parcels. During the vinification we used about 60% whole bunches but otherwise it was regular. The malolactic was quite rapid [the opposite of what Jean-Marie Fourrier on the opposite side of the RN74 remarked], the malic comparatively low compared to other years and the tartaric normal. The malos all finished around the middle of December. The wines are still in barrel except the Bourgogne Rouge. Most will be bottled in March or early April.”

I have to say, I really admire the 2017s from Rossignol-Trapet. I remember fearing last year that maybe they were veering too close to the “infusion” approach to winemaking, resulting in wines that occasionally felt a little thin and lacked substance. You can take a well-intentioned approach too far. But in 2017 I find the wines judged just right, with the exception of the slightly lean Gevrey Etelois. The Rossignols oversee an impressive portfolio, and the Grand Crus all performed well, not least their aristocratic Chambertin. The use of new oak is discreet and complements wines that seem unassuming at first, yet gain weight and intensity with aeration.