Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes Chateau de Laborde 2021

Gevrey Chambertin Vieilles Vignes Chateau de Laborde, Maison Herve Kerlann, Cote de Nuits, Burgundy, France, 2021

Grape: 100% Pinot Noir, hand-picked fruit from 40 year old vines on clay/limestone soil, destemmed, bottled unfiltered, 18 months ageing in oak (30% new)

Producer Tasting Note:

Colour Ruby red. Nose Tasted young, this wine reveals elegant notes of cranberries and black fruits, predominantly violet flowers followed by notes of dried rose petals. With age, elegant scents of liquorice and undergrowth will develop.
Palate The wine delivers what one expects from a Gevrey-Chambertin: a velvety sensation on the palate, dominating a firm and well-defined structure. The elegance of the tannins guides the tasting towards complexity and volume.

Critic's Tasting Note:

"Cask sample. Mid crimson. Darker-fruited and more savoury than the Bourgogne Côte d'Or Au Prunier. The pepperiness of the Côte d'Or, both on the nose and the palate. Dark fruit on the palate too, really fine tannins that need a little time. Really pure Gevrey with a future."  Drink 2027-2035

16+/20 points, Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, January 2023

The Domaine:

Château de Laborde was bought in 1998 by Hervé Kerlann, who applied then applied himself to renovate the château and re-invigorated the estate. There are 9 hectares of vineyards centred on Gevrey-Chambertin and a new winery, built in 2016.

Winemaking here is traditional with great attention to detail: sorting, destemming, cool fermentation with limited pumping over. This gentle extraction of only fine tannins gives the wines a characteristic rich, full character with vibrant fruit, lovely balance and a suppleness that proceeds right through to the finish.

This Gevrey-Chambertin Vieiilles Vignes comes from a selection of plots with some of the domaine's oldest vines. There is good freshness underpinning the full, elegant fruit. The fine, delicate tannins allow this to be approachable and indeed very enjoyable at a relatively young age notwithstanding the excellent concentration. It has nevertheless the structure and balance to age over the next 5 years or so, depending on storage conditions.

Food Match: Game (quail, pheasant, rabbit, venison), duck, lamb, pork, cheese gougères, Maroilles or Munster cheese