Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru "Les Corbeaux" Vieilles Vignes AOC 2023

Bruno Clavelier says he seeks neither colour nor tannin, but transparency and finesse. This Gevrey-Chambertin proves his point: dark cherry, violet and a touch of smoke over a silky texture, powerful at its core, yet nothing about it feels heavy.

Les Corbeaux is a Premier Cru vineyard in the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin, in the Côte de Nuits. The vines root deep into limestone-rich subsoil and come from the estate's old plantings, dating to the 1930s and 1940s, when Joseph Brosson began in 1935 to restore vine by vine the plots devastated by phylloxera and war. Yields remain correspondingly low.

Pure Pinot Noir, almost exclusively the traditional Burgundian Pinot Noir Fin. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts in open, conical oak vats, with up to 30 percent whole clusters and hand punch-downs of the cap; after roughly three weeks of fermentation, malolactic fermentation follows in spring. The wine then ages 16 to 18 months in barrels of Tronçais and Allier oak, only a third of them new. Unfined, unfiltered, with minimal sulphur, and bottled under protective gas.

Dense fruit, fine-grained tannins and a vibrant acidity that keeps the wine upright. The finish is long, spicy and mineral-driven, with blackberry, blackcurrant and a lingering echo of pepper and clove.

With braised beef such as boeuf bourguignon, with herb-crusted rack of lamb, or with a mature, spicy hard cheese.

The estate's 6.5 hectares are farmed biodynamically, with each climat vinified separately. The Vieilles Vignes designation honours the vine heritage Joseph Brosson established nearly a century ago; the estate's wines are sought after by collectors worldwide.