My fave of all time is Leroy. I’ve tried Rousseau a few times, but not in ‘cherry’ vintages. Excluding those two, who are the up and comers or other faves?
Are you including Clos de Beze as well?.
Is this a tease, Mark?
Let’s say he was, what would be your favorites?
Off the top of my head, Drouhin and Damoy make a good Beze, a mediocre straight Chambertin. Durocher should be included.
Both Rossignol Trapet and straight Trapet make great undervalued Chambertin.
Let’s include both, more fun!
On Chambertin, I am hard pressed to have a long list of favorites. The Leroy version is of course spectacular given enough time, but for me Rousseau is the greatest of them all- and in a way that puts it in the rare company of winemakers like Soldera, DRC and Egon Muller for achieving such an incredibly detailed and kaleidoscopic expression of nuance. And rarer still, as with Soldera in BdM, you can often see most of that display in youth plus also find something to like in just about any vintage made.
The only other Chambertin that really ever wowed me was Mortet- for vintages made while he was still alive. For some time now the wines have been distributed in the US with little if anything coming to Texas, so alas it has been about 20 years since it crossed my path on a tasting table. But even so, it was never an easy one to obtain.
Caveat- I have never had Dugat-Py’s bottling.
Clos de Beze is another matter. While I generally have a preference for Chambertin, there are a number of excellent Beze bottlings out there. Faiveley, Jadot and Drouhin are all worth trying and cellaring. Rousseau is still my favorite, however. Gelin does a very fine Beze too, and used to also have a Mazi, but they are quite rustic and need proper aging to come around. They are to my liking, but if you find Faiveley wines of old to be a bit rustic for your tastes, then you may not care for Gelin.
I’d say they’ve become a lot more polished and supple these days!
2009 was the last vintage I have opened from Gelin. Sorry to hear they changed things up- but given that is what the world wants…
To your tastes, has anything been lost with the new way of things over there?
Honestly, I don’t think so. Winemaking is still very classic (with unusually long élevage), they just handle the fruit and wine a bit more gently as far as I can tell.
This reminds me I need to make an rdv to visit and taste with them soon.
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My two choices
Faiveley’s ‘Beze’ is wonderful, they simply needed time in the past. Try the '78 or '85. The '99 is just starting to come around. From more recent vintages their “Les Ouvrées Rodin” is terrific.
Bruno Clair’s ‘Beze’ is consistently outstanding.
I haven’t had a large sample set, but Groffier’s ‘Beze’ is also excellent. There are those who give it grief for showing too much oak young, but try them with some age.
Mine also.
For Beze my value plays are drouhin-Laroze and Bruno Clair. DL has always had tremendous holdings but starting to take advantage of them of late.
I love Bruno Clair Beze. And Trapet Chambertin.
Jadot and Faiveley also make a great Beze. Maybe my favorite wine in each of their very good portfolios.
Up to around 2010, Drouhin Beze was a quiet bargain, but they suddenly tripled the price of this and their other wines, and suddenly it is not just an also ran, but considerably less interesting than other wines in the same price range. The pre 2010 can still be found for $300- $350 in the secondary market, and I occasionally buy at the lower end of the range, but I have never bought a single bottle of a recent vintage. They needn’t worry, I understand they have no problem selling what they have.
The old Faiveleys are lovely, but need a ton of time, maybe twenty to twenty five years.
Having drunk (just once) the ‘91 Rousseau and ‘91 Leroy I have absolutely no answer.
Opened a 2006 Dujac Chambertin a while back (it’s more Beze than Chambertin). It was good and definitely interesting to try Dujac’s version, but I would still rank it behind both of Rousseau’s Chambertin and Beze.
I am fan of Groffier’s CdB and Arlaud CdB is great for the price.
Bouchard makes an excellent Beze.
I agree that Rousseau and Leroy are on top, and Trapet, Dujac and Dugat-Py are all outstanding.
However, I have had great luck with older bottles bought at auction from
Damoy
Gelin
Tortochot
Bart
and Rossignol-Trapet
bought at auction in quantities from 5-12 bts, very good vintages 1976-1991 and (close to) mature at 28-40+ years.
Usually all drinking very fine - and none were above 250 €/bt.