|
The distance between the Roty family’s holdings in grand cru Charmes-Chambertin and their villages parcel of ‘Champ Chenys’ is a mere cowpath. Quite the gifted lieu-dit! And for decades, the Roty family has made the most of the opportunity.
Like the Charmes, the vines in Champ Chenys are very old, and this vieilles vignes character is felt throughout the wine. Its aromatic range is astonishingly wide for a village wine, offering up lovely suggestions of plump purple-y fruit, ’08’s spring floweriness, and an old vine sap that gives the midpalate an almost chocolate-y richness. As usual, a superb value, a wine of real personality and dimension. On my short list of Burgundy’s most individual and ageworthy village wines. - Jason
The Roty's have some of the oldest vines in the whole Côte d’Or and indeed the vines that go into this cuvée were planted in 1934. The vineyard of ‘Champ Chenys’ lies just beneath Charmes, just to the north of the lower section of Mazoyeres.
The wines here are usually entirely destemmed and fermented very slowly. The proportion of new wood has usually been high, but these robust wines have rarely failed to digest the wood. At over a decade in bottle, this 2008 is still youthful yet its components have come into a lovely harmony.
The 2008 Champs-Chenys has a beautiful nose of black cherry with licorice and clove as well. There are all manner of earth tones present as well as a touch of game. The palate is still full, with plum and a touch of menthol. There is nicely peppery acidity and the tannins are nicely rounded. The mingling of underbrush and dark charry continue through the slightly toasty finish. This is a deeply satisfying lieu-dit that would better many a premier cru. It seems an especially perfect wine to battle the encroach of gray clouds and wintry weather.
Regarding Philippe vs Joseph Roty: In 2015, after Philippe passed away at 46, his vineyards were consolidated under the Domaine Joseph Roty umbrella.
Cheers,
- Spencer
|
