2021 Charmes Chambertin Tres Vieilles Vignes
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The 2021 Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru has the tricky task of following what I consider Roty's best cuvée this vintage, the Griottes-Chambertin. There’s more black fruit here, certainly more backward, graphite-tinged with light sous-bois scents developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy tannins. It is one of the most structured Charmes-Chambertin wines, from vines planted in 1881 and 1882 (the first vines planted in the locality after the phylloxera crisis.) Superb, but serious!
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Neal Martin
Neal Martin
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Unfurling in the glass with aromas of cherries, wild berries, licorice, orange zest, vine smoke, incense and rose petals, the 2021 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru Très Vieilles Vignes is full-bodied, deep and layered, its velvety attack segueing into a rich, succulent mid-palate that entirely conceals its powdery structuring tannins. Long and perfumed, it entirely transcends the perceived limitations of the vintage, and Burgundy purists will adore it.
The 2021 Charmes-Chambertin Très Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru has a slightly more opulent nose than the Griottes-Chambertin: blue fruit, violets and fine mineralité tucked underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-chiselled but still quite firm tannins, a thick smear of Valrona dark chocolate towards the finish mixed with kirsch. Very typical of Roty's style, it will deserve considerable ageing but you have to stand back and admire its gung-ho attitude in such a difficult vintage.