2017 Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy Gevrey-Chambertin "Clos Prieur", Burgundy, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

This wine is from a contiguous parcel that sits astride the Clos Prieur du Haut (classified 1er Cru) and the Clos Prieur du Bas (classified as a village wine); rather than create two tiny cuvées, the domaine prefers to blend the two to make an extra-fine village wine from the lieu-dit “Clos Prieur”. Harmand-Geoffroy owns a bit less than a half-hectare of vineyards in Clos Prieur and the vines therein were planted between 50 and 80 years ago (dated as of 2011).

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Gerard Harmand and his son, Philippe, now lead this family-run estate that was established in the late nineteenth century. The domaine encompasses nine hectares of vineyards, all planted to Pinot Noir and situated exclusively within the boundaries of the village of Gevrey Chambertin. The viticulture is traditional to its core: the soil is turned by tractor and by hand, herbicides are not used, all in the cause of permitting the roots to reach deeply in their search for “terroir”; no chemical fertilizers are applied nor are insecticides used; debudding is practiced to eliminate undesirable growth, a “vendange verte” is done when necessary and the harvest is, of course, manual.

The vinification is equally traditional: the grapes are destemmed 100%, there is a cold maceration extending at times to five days, the cuvaison unfolds over a 15 to 21 day period (depending on the “cru” and the vintage) under temperature-controlled conditions; the wine is then racked into barrel where the malo-lactic fermentation occurs and the wines are aged for approximately 16 months on the fine lees in small oak barrels (a certain percentage of which is new – more new oak for the more important, structured cuvées) before being bottled without filtration. The domaine recommends that their wines be decanted before service.

The Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy offers us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the terroir of Gevrey Chambertin as the range of wines covers many of the most important vineyard sites in this fabled village.