Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru 2021

Jean-Louis Trapet doesn't craft powerhouse wines, and this Grand Cru too seeks its greatness in fine detail: dark cherry and red berries over delicate spice, with earthy, mineral tones beneath. A reserved wine that gains with air.

Alongside Chambertin and Latricières-Chambertin, Chapelle-Chambertin is one of the three Grand Crus that form the heart of the Domaine's 18.5 hectares in Gevrey-Chambertin on the Côte de Nuits. The family has worked here for seven generations. In the 1880s, Arthur Trapet secretly grafted vines onto American rootstocks as phylloxera was destroying the vineyards; the method was legalized in 1888. Jean-Louis Trapet's credo on this: "Les hommes passent et la terre reste" (people come and go, the land remains).

Pure Pinot Noir, vinified dry, 13.0% vol. For the Grand Crus, Jean-Louis Trapet ferments 50 to 100 percent whole clusters, moves the wines in the cellar by gravity, and limits new oak to a maximum of 50 percent. Guide, never force.

Dry and lean in build, with juicy cherry fruit, fine-grained tannin and crisp acidity. The structure stays taut, a chalky, saline streak carries the long, precisely drawn finish.

Roasted pigeon, herb-crusted rack of lamb, saddle of venison with lingonberries or duck breast with red wine jus. Also braised beef, porcini risotto and a mature Époisses.

Farmed biodynamically since 1996, Demeter-certified since 2009. When opened young, the wine benefits from decanting; in the cellar it gains depth over the years.