2018 Chambertin Grand Cru

Brothers Nicolas and David Rossignol guided me through their 2019s and a handful of bottled of 2018s when I visited their winery in Gevrey-Chambertin opposite Denis Bachelet. “There was less vine stress than last year thanks to the clayey soils,” David Rossignol explained. “I started the harvest on 17 September and finished on 24 September. The harvest was smaller than 2018 but normal, around 40 to 42hl/ha. There was good ripeness and we used around 50% whole bunches across the range, without crushing the berries. Alcohol levels are around 13.8° to 13.9°.”

The Rossignol-Trapet wines tend to be a little lighter than others. The Rossignol brothers often use the word “infusion” when it comes to the skin maceration. They are not seeking density or power, rather terroir expression, which is why they use the same level of whole bunches in every cru. That can be a noble exercise in terms of taking the winemaker’s decision out of the equation when comparing vineyards, though it risks adding a disproportionate amount of stems, either too much or too little. I do not find that they had that problem in 2019 – no cuvée felt excessively green. Their best 2019 is their sublime Chapelle-Chambertin that pips the Chambertin, whereas their Latricières missed a bit of density. That might develop during the remainder of its barrel maturation so let’s see how it shows next year. In any case, there are wines worthy of investigation at Premier and Village level, yet another great Gevrey Petite Chapelle and a very fine Corbeaux.

Rossignol-Trapet is a domaine that is starting to step up a few gears in recent years. Their wines have performed impressively during the annual Burgfest blind tastings, a perfect litmus test to see who’s really doing the business inside the bottle. I met with brothers Nicolas and David Rossignol who gave me the lowdown on the growing season. "We started the harvest on 4 September until 12 September, commencing in Beaune and then through the Gevrey appellation, finishing with the Latricières-Chambertin. We used around 40-50% whole bunch except for the Bourgogne Rouge, the stems helping to add freshness and longevity. The wines underwent a two week cuvaison, the colour coming easily. There were some cuvées that took a while to finish their alcoholic fermentation, though they all eventually ended with zero sugar. The premier crus are all raised in around 25% new oak, the village crus will be bottled in February, the premier crus in March and the grand crus in April. I think it is a good idea to have a good length of élevage."