2012 Chapelle Chambertin

Tasted blind at the annual "Burgfest" tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Chapelle Chambertin Grand Cru from Domaine Rossignol-Trapet has a much fresher, brighter nose than its peers with cranberry, strawberry plus a touch of tomato vine and earthy aromas that are very well defined. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, a pleasant dried blood tincture that is suffused into the delineated tensile red fruit, leading to an engaging ferrous finish that begs another sip. This is excellent.

Lovely pure bright fruit on the nose, just a hint of oak spice. Very pretty on the palate – delicious, if light. Persistent though. Lots of pleasure. (JH)

The 2012 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru has a little more fruite on the nose compared to the Latricieres, more exuberant and showy at this stage. The palate is underpinned by fine tannins. It is imbued with sorbet-like freshness and stoked with very pretty tart red cherries, blood orange and an endearing spicy finish that lends this grand cru length. Excellent. I remember visiting Domaine Rossignol-Trapet on my very first foray into Burgundy in 1997 and having followed their wines closely ever since, it was good to return, albeit briefly, to taste through their 2012s. During that period, the biggest change has been David and Nicolas Rossignol’s conversion to biodynamics in 2004, a process that was being trialed during that first visit. They told me that they have fine-tuned their vinification in accordance, for example, using less pigeage than they once did, and this has resulted in a finer, more nuanced set of wines in recent years. Here, the harvest commenced on 27 September and finished on 4 October. Hail reduced their Beaune vineyards’ production by around 20% and their older vines suffered millerandage, though they found that the premier crus held up fine. I have always felt that their wines are a little under-rated by cognoscenti. While over the road, Denis Bachelet has perhaps unintentionally propagated a zealous, almost feverish following for his wines, Rossignol-Trapet perhaps has a more commercial bent and that used to be reflected in their good, but rarely great wines. Yet in the last three or vintages, so they have fine-tuned their style: ratcheted up a few levels towards, if not equal to that of Denis Bachelet and the village’s top tier of producers. Time to give these fine wines another look if you have not done so recently. Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400 and through various UK merchants including Bibendum and Justerini & Brooks.