Jérôme Chezeaux - Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes 2021

The estate, which is based in Prémeaux-Prissey just south of Nuits Saint Georges, owns approximately 12 hectares of vineyards, some of which were brought into play from the family holdings of Jérome’s wife, Pierrette. The vineyards, impeccably tended according to the principles of “lutte raisonnée”, are scattered throughout the villages of Prémeaux, Nuits Saint Georges, Vougeot and Vosne Romanée and include, as mentioned above, a series of the most elite lieu-dits in the zone.

Today, the domaine is a true father-and-daughter team, with Jérôme’s dynamic and enthusiastic daughter Lyse employed full-time since 2019. Lyse has spearheaded the creation of several new single-vineyard bottlings, thereby expanding the domaine’s already formidable representation of these special southern-Côte-de-Nuits terroirs.

The Chezeaux house style is difficult to pin down, and in fact even to call it a “style” suggests a certain presence of ego that is not there. Always fully ripe, the wines nonetheless never display a wisp of flab even in the warmest of vintages; they offer the distinct impression that the grapes were harvested at the most perfect possible moment. They are graceful yet not exactly polite; always thoroughly extracted but never pushed. Jérôme and Lyse allow Pinot Noir’s innate silkiness to carry the day, and even in the ripest years they carry an acidity which is noble and true, never masked by undue richness, and always lending the fruit mouthwatering crunch.

Jérome Chézeaux strictly follows the most traditional of methods in the cellar being firmly “non-interventionist”. The purity of his wines is revelatory; there is an understated majesty to every offering in the portfolio. After a manual harvest, the grapes undergo a cold maceration of 3 to 4 days and the entire cuvaison extends for approximately three weeks. During that time remontage and pigeage are practiced; the extent to which both techniques are used depends on the structure of the vintage. Indigenous yeasts are used exclusively and malolactic fermentation occurs in small oak barrels during the extended elevage. Each year between a quarter and one-third of the barrels are replaced which means that the wines are exposed at most to 30% new oak. The wines are bottled without filtration between 18 to 24 months after harvest.

Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru  Les Chaumes lies at the southern edge of Vosne-Romanée, immediately below the hallowed premier crus Aux Malconsorts and La Tache on a vein of limestone and marl. Chezeaux owns four-tenths of a hectare here, producing a wine that marries the exotic spice and succulent fruit of Vosne-Romanée with the mineral force of Nuits-Saint-Georges in ravishing fashion.

Producer: Jérôme Chezeaux

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Appellation: Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru

Vintage: 2021

Size: 750ml