Domaine Jean GRIVOT -- 2013s from Cask, and a 2012 from Bottle

 Domaine Jean Grivot (Vosne-Romanée)

2013s  from Cask

Etienne Grivot said that he began harvesting on October 5. From the beginning, he said, he has compared the vintage to 1978, another very late harvest that produced outstanding wines out of a summer that seemed dismal. The small grapes characterized the vintage – they had superb skins. The chaptalization here was 1.2º (some going up to 1.5º, now the legal limit). Etienne said that he did some whole berry fermentation, but with the stems removed, and in the future he will do some wines with some stems – a major change here, as stems have not been used in the many years that I have been visiting. Production was low – 172 barrels overall, similar to the preceding few years; in 2014, production is up to 221 barrels. Malolactic fermentations were late, as they often are here. Bottling is expected to occur in February and March.

With a few exceptions, these are extremely good wines, with the relative quality increasing steeply as one goes up the vineyard ladder.

2013 Bourgogne   Pinot Noir

This wine is smooth and light with red and dark fruit. It’s good, but not the best I’ve had here. (84-88)

2013 Nuits-Saint-Georges    Aux Lavières

This wine has dark fruit with a velvet and crunchy texture and some tannins showing. (85-89)

2013 Vosne-Romanée

The nose is perfumed with some oriental spice – easily recognizable as Vosne. The mouth is smooth, medium-light, and long with dark cherry fruit and some tannin on the finish. It is a very seductive wine. (87-90)

2013 Chambolle-Musigny   Combe d’Orveau

Contrary to widespread misunderstanding, this wine is not from the premier cru portion of Combe d’Orveau, but instead is a village wine, and in fact is above En Orveau in Vosne-Romanée, so it can almost be considered a Vosne more than a Chambolle. This wine is smooth, light, and long but lacks a little depth and concentration and I do not find the definition of fruit that I am accustomed to here. (84-87)

2013 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru – Les Rouges

Les Rouges is often considered at or near the bottom of the hierarchy of Vosne-Romanée premiers crus (admittedly, a rather lofty list), but I usually appreciate Grivot’s version highly for its finesse and purity. This wine doesn’t quite rise to the levels of other years. It is smooth and long with reddish fruit, but like the Chambolle, it lacks some precision and concentration. (86-89)

2013 Vosne-Romanée  1er Cru – Aux Brulées

Now, this is more like what I expect. The nose is deep and complex in its dark fruit. The texture is smooth but firm with lightness, dark fruits, and elegance. (89-92)

2013 Vosne-Romanée  1er Cru – Les Beaux Monts

The nose shows stony aromas. In the mouth, I find a smooth texture with dark fruit and structure. Perhaps just a bit short in concentration, though. (88-91)

2013 Vosne-Romanée  1er Cru – Les Suchots

The nose of the Suchots is very complex, but curiously, they don’t recall Suchots strongly to me. The mouth is sensual and light with dark fruits and here there is enough concentration, although the finesse of the vintage does characterize this wine. (91-94)

2013 Vosne-Romanée  1er Cru – Aux Reignots

This wine is dark, pure, and refined with lovely finesse. No dilution here, and the overall balance is exquisite, and the wine has a texture that recalls that of Volnay-Caillerets, something I’ve rarely found outside that vineyard. (92-95)

2013 Nuits-Saint-Georges  1er Cru – Les Roncières

Since 2003, Etienne has been picking the Roncières and the Clos-Vougeot later in order to give them more ripeness and to soften them some. The nose here is completely different from that of the Reignots, being very stony and mineral. The mouth is dark, powerful, smooth, and mineral. An excellent wine. (90-94)

2013 Nuits-Saint-Georges  1er Cru – Les Pruliers

The Pruliers features dark plum fruit in the nose and mouth and is very sensual for a wine from the southern slope of Nuits. There is tannin here, though, to give firmness and backbone to the wine. (90-94)

2013 Nuits-Saint-Georges  1er Cru – Aux Boudots

There are very old vines here – the youngest part of the vineyard dates to the 1930s. The wine shows great finesse – a combination of the location and the characteristics of the vintage, with length and penetrating dark and red berry fruit. (92-95)

2013 Clos-Vougeot

This is a big wine, as Clos-Vougeot can be, with typical red and black raspberry fruit, and plenty of tannin. It hasn’t yet come together, but the individual elements are impressive. (90-94)

2013 Echézeaux

This wine is a step up from the Clos-Vougeot. It is sensual, dense, and dark – just what one looks for in an Echézeaux. (93-97)

2013 Richebourg

This wine is not as dense as the Echézeaux and shows more red fruits, more minerality, and more structure, along with finesse. (93-96)

A 2012  from Bottle

2012 Vosne-Romanée  1er Cru – Les Beaux Monts

This wine is sensual and round with dark and red fruit. It is easy to drink now, but the tannin lurking in the background suggests that it will close up and than live for a long time. Outstanding purity and density here. I’d look to 2027-2052 for peak drinking. 94/A

Additional reviews of Grivot's 2012's from bottle are here.