A really lively nose, the fruits are mostly red, with almost a touch of blueberry, enveloped in spice and woodsmoke, and pleasing dualities of richness and gentility; plush softness and vibrant intensity. The palate is typically bright and focussed, quivering with energy, crystalline, pure and herbal.
Pierre needs no introduction these days, having been propelled in to the very front ranks of Burgundy’s most sought-after growers, for all he remains as diffident and charming as ever. With ever increasing global demand for allocations, we never get as much of his Grands Crus as we’d like but the quality and value across the range is always exciting and we are delighted to have a good supply of Pierre’s various expressions of Gevrey Chambertin.
“Quite an easy vintage” says Pierre: Following a wet winter, there was no more serious rain after March, and no botrytis, or rot, although he mentions there was a bit of hail on the north side of Gevrey in July which caused a 20% crop loss (my heart always sinks proportionate to any dip in available quantity of Duroché wines). The Grand Crus have 20-30% whole bunches and Pierre uses the same percentage of new oak in all his wines from Bourgogne Rouge to Clos de Beze.
As for comparative vintages, he points to 2007 for fruit, aromatic profile and balance, but with the concentration and energy of 2010. Roll up, roll up.
/Tom Harrow