History
The family originated from Jura, and at the
end of 18th century Joseph Grivot sold his vineyards in the Hautes
Cotes to settle in Vosne-Romanee. His son Gaston developed the domaine, and in
1919 bought a large parcel in Clos de Vougeot.
Gaston was also one of the first graduates
from Dijon University on oenology, followed by his son Jean a few years later. Jean
acquired a parcel in Richebourg in 1984 and was succeeded by his son Etienne in
1987.
Etienne studied viti- and viniculture in
Beaune, and also got work experience in California and other parts of France.
Vineyards
The average vine age is 40 years, with
planting-out, only replacing vine stock when one died. Planting density is high
at 11,000 vines per hectare, contributing to low yields and the vine roots
having to dig deep into the sub-soils for nutrients and water. A very low
amount of organic fertilizer is used, without any weed-killer.
The soils are ploughed and sustainable
organic farming practices are conducted. Green harvesting is done every year
with a slight amount of leaf-removal depending on the aspect of the plot. The
harvest date is determined by regular visit and check on the vineyards,
sampling and analysis of grapes.
Winemaking
The grapes are sorted in the vat house and
only perfectly ripe and healthy grapes are kept, with 95% destalking. The
harvest is transferred to the vats using small trolleys to maintain fruit
integrity. Juice is cooled to undergo a pre-fermentation maceration between 4-6
days.
Fermentation is with indigenous yeast and
daily re-circulation is carried out with check on temperature and density, with
the process lasting 17 days. Each year the winemaking process is adapted to the
profile of the vintage.
The wine is matured in French oak for 18
months, a third of which are new in general but also depends on vintage, with
around 25% for villages appellation, 30-60% for premier crus and 40-70% for
grand crus. During maturing the wine is racked twice on average, and then
blended in the vats before bottling without fining or filtration according to
moon’s movement and atmospheric pressure, in the estate.
I have recently tasted the 2003
Nuits-St-Georges 1er Cru Ronciere and below is my tasting note:
Appearance
Bright
and clear, it has light ruby color, with wide garnet rims and legs.
Nose
Clean, with
medium intensity aromas of red fruit of raspberry and cherry, black fruit of
plum, mineral notes of earth, oak notes of smoke, kernel notes of dark
chocolate, maturity notes of mushroom. The wine is developing.
Palate
Dry with
medium (+) acidity, the wine has medium tannin of ripe and silky in texture,
medium alcohol and medium (-) body, demonstrating medium intensity of flavors
including red fruit of raspberry and cherry, oak notes of smoke, mineral notes
of earth, herbal notes of tobacco leaf. The wine has a medium (+) length.
Conclusion
Good quality Nuits-St-Georges with a decent intensity on the nose
showing nice complexity, the wine is elegant, balanced with good structure, having
quite robust tannin despite its age, and the palate has reasonable
concentration and a fairly long finish. Ready to drink now, it can benefit from
further ageing of another 3-5 years.
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