Domaine Marc ROY -- 2013s from Bottle

 Domaine Marc ROY (Gevrey-Chambertin)

2013s  from Bottle

Label snobs can skip this review, as it only contains wines from village vineyards, which they would not deign to drink. For the rest of us, these are exciting wines, showing that old vines and effort in the vineyard and cellar can pay off and deliver wines of premier cru quality. Alexandrine Roy, who also makes the wine (not just consults) at Phelps Creek in Oregon, is justly proud of what she accomplishes here. The style is one of purity, precision, and freshness and the wines can drink very well young.

Because of the long (three week) flowering period, there were grapes of different generations on the vines, here as everywhere. Alexandrine worked over the summer to take off the grapes from the later-flowering, and so when she harvested, she just took in the grapes from the early flowering and had uniform quality. Additionally, she took off some leaves to help promote the quality and ripening. As a result of her work, she was able to harvest from September 27 to October 2, earlier than many and before the rains that started a few days later. There was a price for the selection she did in the vineyards, though, and she is down 30% from a normal crop. All grapes were destemmed.

These wines were bottled at the end of August 2014.

2013 Gevrey-Chambertin     vieilles vignes

The grapes here all come from vines that average 70+ years of age. The wine is pure and precise with red currant and strawberry fruit and outstanding freshness. 90/A

2013 Gevrey-Chambertin   La Justice

Alexandrine purchased some vines in the La Justice climat (below the route nationale just as one leaves Gevrey-Chambertin heading north) in 2010; 2011 was the first vintage that this wine was made. (The estate already owned some vines in La Justice that is blended into the regular Gevrey-Chambertin.) The vines are about 40 years old, from the Pinot fin and yields very small berries. The nose shows spicy, mineral strawberry aromas and flavors. The mouth is chewy with good density, freshness, and length. 92/A

2013 Gevrey-Chambertin  Clos Prieur

The Clos Prieur vineyard is just below Mazis-Chambertin. The upper part is classified premier cru, and the bottom part, from which this wine comes, is village. But Alexandrine notes that the vines here are from the top part of the village Clos Prieur (that is, close to the premier cru portion). The vines here are about 50 years old. The nose here is darker and there are some smoke elements. The dark fruit continues in the mouth with some wildness – the proximity of Mazis-Chambertin is evident. The wine is smooth, flowing, and pure – a delight already. 92/A

2013 Gevrey-Chambertin   cuvée Alexandrine

This wine is the estate’s top cuvée, created with the 2005 vintage, two years after Alexandrine took over the estate. It is only from very small grapes in Alexandrine’s six favorite parcels. The nose is floral, and that continues in the mouth where there are also very pure red fruits. The wine is precise, smooth, elegant, long, and nervy with a lovely, smooth texture. Like the others, this wine is delicious already to drink, and it should be able to take some aging 92+/A

2013 Marsannay blanc

This wine has a stony, mineral nose. The mouth is round, deep, and medium-full but fresh and steely. Good length here. I get a vision of the grapes in the wine when I taste it. This wine is 100% Chardonnay on very gravelly soil. The vines are about 35 years old. The wine is fermented in stainless steel. 88/B+