2013 Joseph Drouhin, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

Robert Parker 89+

The 2013 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru was cropped October 4-10, partial whole-cluster and matured for 13 months in oak. The nose is quite opulent and showy, although for me, it does not quite have the finesse of the Lavaux Saint Jacques ’13. The palate is medium-bodied with quite rigid tannins, especially for a Charmes-Chambertin, with a touch of hardness on the finish. I suspect that this will improve with bottle age. I was fortunately able to taste a selection of Joseph Drouhin’s 2013 with Véronique Boss at a small professional tasting (alas the London gig had to be cancelled after a pallet of sample was stolen.) Like everyone else, they suffered 60% to 100% more rainfall than average in March and April so that the vegetative cycle was some 15 to 18 days behind schedule. June was much warmer and sped things up a little, though toward the end of the month there were outbreaks of coulure and millerandage in some sectors. Naturally, given the dispersed nature of their holdings across the region, they could not avoid hail damage on July 23. The level of damage ranged between 20% and 90% and most notably Le Clos des Mouches was decimated. Véraison was on August 10 and progressed slowly, despite the month offering plenty of sunshine, although the weather turned more inclement toward the beginning of September. The harvest in the Côte de Beaune commenced on September 30, the Côte de Nuits on October 1 and in Chablis four days later. It had been a taxing growing season, but Véronique is convinced that the biodynamic techniques applied in their vineyards offered protection. They installed two sorting tables and also an optical sorting machine, now beginning to appear in Burgundy after becoming so popular over in Bordeaux (I have made my views on optical sorting known in recent pieces. It was apparently effective in winnowing out hail-damaged berries.) The maceration was quite long, 19 to 26 days, with around 10% to 15% whole bunch fruit. With respect to the white wines, they needed additional small tanks in order to separate the heart of the press with the final pressings and they underwent less bâtonnage than usual. Much of the bottling was done earlier in Chablis, Mâconnais and Côte Chalonnaise, but normal for the Côte d’Or. Among the group that included Jasper Morris MW, Bill Nanson and Steve Tanzer, I was not the only one mightily impressed by their wines. The bottom line is that they are as good and occasionally better than many bijou cult producers and with the likes of their Chambolle-Musigny Amoureuses or Griotte-Chambertin, they knocked the ball out of the park. These wines are highly recommended. [Neal Martin, 01/12/2014]

Anticipated maturity: 2017-2030