How good is Chevillon?

[Ramon_C]

I’ve had only a few, from 4 vintages (2002 and earlier), all were good.

[Robert_Pavlovich]

Definitely have had some really good Chevillon, including this 09’ Vaucrains, it showed great 5 years ago too, could imagine it being better now.

Their mid to high end 1ers are where it’s at, as I don’t get the sense their Bourgogne or villages are truly special. Have not heard anyone wax poetic about their Bousselots or Roncieres but correct me if I’m wrong. In addition to those mentioned, the Perrieres is really nice.

[Shan_A]

'14 LSG is available at a relatively reasonable tariff

[Larry_Link]

I used to think Chevillon was a producer that had to be aged awhile, but the recent vintages i’ve had of them have been delicious!

It’s tough to generalize as always in Burgundy. I agree with Craig if you’re lucky you can catch just about any young burgundy with an early open drinking window. I haven’t had the 09 Chevillon Vaucrains recently, but I did open the 2010 version last week and it is definitely not open. It’s a beast of a wine (in a good way) very dense and even after 24 hours open refused to yield much.

Regarding the OP, count me as a Chevillon fan, solid wines at great prices readily available. Been buying for years and in my cellar is my largest holding by producer in Burgundy.

I need to try the 09, thanks for the tip.

[CFu]

I used to think Chevillon was a producer that had to be aged awhile, but the recent vintages i’ve had of them have been delicious!

It’s tough to generalize as always in Burgundy. I agree with Craig if you’re lucky you can catch just about any young burgundy with an early open drinking window. I haven’t had the 09 Chevillon Vaucrains recently, but I did open the 2010 version last week and it is definitely not open. It’s a beast of a wine (in a good way) very dense and even after 24 hours open refused to yield much.

Regarding the OP, count me as a Chevillon fan, solid wines at great prices readily available. Been buying for years and in my cellar is my largest holding by producer in Burgundy.

I need to try the 09, thanks for the tip.

One thing doesn’t disprove the other.

There’s definitely a trend toward more approachable, cleaner, less rustic wine coming out of burgundy. Not just Chevillon.

[Marcu_Stanley]

I agree with c fu and others. Chevillon was always a good producer of NSG, but the older style indeed needed time in the cellar. However over the last years (10+y?) the winemaking has shifted a bit towards earlier accessibility without compromising the intensity and depth.
Top producer? Certainly in NSG - and also among the Cotes-de Nuits 1er Cru range - nevertheless it´s still a difference to the top Grand Crus and some star producers like Leroy, DRC, Rousseau, Liger-Belair, Meo-Camuzet, Mugnier and others - also price-wise.

I know this is a hard thing to describe, but I’d be interested to hear you expand further on what the differences are between the top GCs / producers like DRC/Rousseau/Liger-Belair/Mugnier etc. and a producer like Chevillon. I don’t drink in the league of the top Grand Crus or the superstar producers you named so I am not directly familiar with them. But it is just hard for me to imagine that Burgundy gets a whole lot better than that 09 Vaucrains I had.

[AlexS]

I’ll pile on, love me some Chevy although I do think the difference between the “upper-tier” 1er Crus (LSG, Vaucrains & Cailles) is fairly profound over the “lessers” (Bousselots, Roncières, Pruliers, etc). Of course, vintage also factors in.

Also, the Pinot Blanc can be some fascinating shit.

[Fred_Bower]

Soulful wines with true sense of place. Reference standards for me. I buy when I can obtain, which seems to be about 2-3 times a decade in my market. I’ve only had one that I thought was past peak…a '98 Vaucrains a couple of years ago that didn’t shine as brightly as the bottle a year prior. It was my last of that vintage and no regrets having the last one be off peak; that’s actually my goal.

Cheers,
fred

[Jay_Miller]

Very good indeed. I miss the days when they were one of the great bargains in Burgundy.

[Jonathan_Favre]

Hold on - does anyone have proof that Chevillon has made a purposeful switch to make more modern wines that taste better when young? Or is it just the great '09 vintage which could arguably give both yummy young tasting wines in their “relative” youth (11yo in this case) + age ability?

Love me sum Chevillon - I cellar all of them year after year by the looks of it. I could report how many bottles from how many different wines from my CT account to further increase my creds - I will not do this though :p. Chevillon is incredibly consistent year over year IMHO - true to where it’s making wine from year over year. For me - if it’s Latour or Chevillon, it’s the consistency that makes a winery “better” than another - consistent vinification, production, truth to terroir, experience for the end user, and pricing (the market making this not something the winery can control). Chevillon can be put up there with the very best wineries in burgundy when trying to compare.

[CFu]

Hold on - does anyone have proof that Chevillon has made a purposeful switch to make more modern wines that taste better when young? Or is it just the great '09 vintage which could arguably give both yummy young tasting wines in their “relative” youth (11yo in this case) + age ability?

Love me sum Chevillon - I cellar all of them year after year by the looks of it. I could report how many bottles from how many different wines from my CT account to further increase my creds - I will not do this though :p. Chevillon is incredibly consistent year over year IMHO - true to where it’s making wine from year over year. For me - if it’s Latour or Chevillon, it’s the consistency that makes a winery “better” than another - consistent vinification, production, truth to terroir, experience for the end user, and pricing (the market making this not something the winery can control). Chevillon can be put up there with the very best wineries in burgundy when trying to compare.

I don’t think they’ve made an abrupt shift like faiveley but even small tweaks in the vineyards and cellars pay huge dividends nowadays. I don’t think the wines are modern - i also don’t think it should be some sort of negative connotation for wines to taste more approachable young either.

My friend was (is?) writing a paper on climate change and the impact on winemaking. During our visit to one of the prominent domaines in burgundy, she posed the question. The answer was more complicated than just climate change giving more accessible fruit, but there’s a sharing of knowledge now for better winemaking, better technology for better vineyard work, better tech for inside the cellar too. That all leads to cleaner more accessible wines early on without sacrificing the integrity of the wines.

Look at what Charles is doing at Arnoux. The wines have taken a huge leap in quality with some tweaks to barrel approach and changes in the vineyard.

[Jayson_Cohen]

Chevillon can be put up there with the very best wineries in burgundy when trying to compare.

+1

[Mattstolz]

+1 on this. Faiveley, Grivot, others I can think of. I like it, honestly, and it’s led me to favor post-2008 wines. Been wondering whether there would be traditionalist complaints like we heard in Bordeaux. But to me Burgundy has managed this transition to modern consumer tastes better than Bordeaux, in a way it has moved in the direction of being more refined rather than just “bigger”.

my feeling on this, and anyone feel free to correct me, and of course there will be exceptions to this is that a large group of producers in Bordeaux made a purposeful change for the pupose of making an impact the style of their wines and were hit by global warming at the same time. Burgundy, on the other hand, I think by and large has made a purposeful change towards better farming and was hit by global warming at the same time. global warming is obviously complicated but I do think it gives us some more accessible fruit, plus helps burgundy ripen their grapes every year. but I think while burgundy and Bordeaux both have made changes, the purpose of those changes was different. thats where the backlash has come I think. to me, its also a more subtle change that (I think) will play with the end result in the aging of wines much better

[Jonathan_Favre]

Hold on - does anyone have proof that Chevillon has made a purposeful switch to make more modern wines that taste better when young? Or is it just the great '09 vintage which could arguably give both yummy young tasting wines in their “relative” youth (11yo in this case) + age ability?

Love me sum Chevillon - I cellar all of them year after year by the looks of it. I could report how many bottles from how many different wines from my CT account to further increase my creds - I will not do this though :p. Chevillon is incredibly consistent year over year IMHO - true to where it’s making wine from year over year. For me - if it’s Latour or Chevillon, it’s the consistency that makes a winery “better” than another - consistent vinification, production, truth to terroir, experience for the end user, and pricing (the market making this not something the winery can control). Chevillon can be put up there with the very best wineries in burgundy when trying to compare.

I don’t think they’ve made an abrupt shift like faiveley but even small tweaks in the vineyards and cellars pay huge dividends nowadays. I don’t think the wines are modern - i also don’t think it should be some sort of negative connotation for wines to taste more approachable young either.

My friend was (is?) writing a paper on climate change and the impact on winemaking. During our visit to one of the prominent domaines in burgundy, she posed the question. The answer was more complicated than just climate change giving more accessible fruit, but there’s a sharing of knowledge now for better winemaking, better technology for better vineyard work, better tech for inside the cellar too. That all leads to cleaner more accessible wines early on without sacrificing the integrity of the wines.

Look at what Charles is doing at Arnoux. The wines have taken a huge leap in quality with some tweaks to barrel approach and changes in the vineyard.

Sounds about right ! All contributing to the consistency of a winery - Arnoux included.

[Vinod_S]

One of my favorite producers, I find the wines have an excellent red fruit profile that gives them an accessibility regardless of age (e.g. not sure I’ve ever had a shut down one, just ones that can be a touch less complex at some phases) and makes them a great deal in “off” vintages like 2011. I buy Perrières every year, probably the burgundy that most transparently conveys the concept of terroir to me with its minierality. The 2005 is probably the best red wine I’ve had this year.

Has anyone tried the 2014 village, would be interested to know how it’s showing.

[M.Twelftree]

Chevillon is spectacular, beats up Gouge for the best producer in NSG for mine,
last night the 2002 Les Cailles was easily at Grand Cru level for mine, the 2010 in Aspen a few years back was too.
Special vino
MT

[TGigante]

Very good indeed. I miss the days when they were one of the great bargains in Burgundy.

Ian Dury couldn’t have said it better himself

[Jonathan_Favre]

Chevillon is spectacular, beats up Gouge for the best producer in NSG for mine,
last night the 2002 Les Cailles was easily at Grand Cru level for mine, the 2010 in Aspen a few years back was too.
Special vino
MT

Started to buy a few bottles of Chevillon here and there on release starting with the '02s - I need to find the few I have left. Lots of Chevillon has been purchased since… Chevillon is one of the domaines that I’d love to taste older wines - talking early 90’s, 80’s, and late 70’s but you never see them and I haven’t made contact with a fellow wine aficionado that has a stash in their cellar either . Recent live auctions had some older Chevillon up for sale that looked entirely interesting but went relatively high and higher… I would love to have the ability to see what happens to these wines >20 years old!

[Nick_Gangas]

I have some 99 LSG Jon. Next time we meet.

[YLee]

Chevillon is spectacular, beats up Gouge for the best producer in NSG for mine,
last night the 2002 Les Cailles was easily at Grand Cru level for mine, the 2010 in Aspen a few years back was too.
Special vino
MT

Started to buy a few bottles of Chevillon here and there on release starting with the '02s - I need to find the few I have left. Lots of Chevillon has been purchased since… Chevillon is one of the domaines that I’d love to taste older wines - talking early 90’s, 80’s, and late 70’s but you never see them and I haven’t made contact with a fellow wine aficionado that has a stash in their cellar either . Recent live auctions had some older Chevillon up for sale that looked entirely interesting but went relatively high and higher… I would love to have the ability to see what happens to these wines >20 years old!

D. HEIN is selling his 80’s Chevillon in the CC section.