For some years I have been fascinated by the wines of Domaine Robert Groffier. At the Burgfest blind tastings I have come to recognise the estate as a consistently strong performer with, every now and then, wines of utter brilliance. 2015 Chambertin Clos de Beze, 2017 Bonnes Mares and, in particular, 2019 Clos de Beze are wines that have had me absolutely mesmerised.
On a few occasions I have visited the domaine in Morey Saint Denis. Again, as at Burgfest, the tastings have had thrilling highs and Nicolas Groffier seems to have a restless drive, always pushing forward to achieve the next notch or two of quality, always questioning and never satisfied with the status quo. Highlights of the domaine tastings have always included the stunning Chambolle 1er Cru Les Amoureuses – 2021, 2022 in two terroir-differentiated bottlings – La Grace des Argiles (clay soil) and La Delicatesse des Sables (sand) – and a glorious 2016 generously opened last December.
Nicolas Groffier is an advocate of whole bunch fermentation and it would be easy to pigeon-hole these wines as belonging to that class of new school growers whose wines are currently so in vogue. However, that would also be rather lazy.
Whilst many of the whole cluster wines so beloved of hipster sommeliers tend towards pale colours and minimal use of new oak, Nicolas is not afraid of richly-coloured Pinot Noir and up to 100% new oak. The Groffier narrative is more complex and declines to be lazily pigeon-holed.
The tasting room at Domaine Robert Groffier shows how widely Nicolas drinks and tastes – and at an enviably high level – with a starry array of ‘dead soldiers’ from the length and breadth of the wine world. It seems to me that this is a winemaker with huge curiosity to experience and understand what the best, the most classic, and the most cutting-edge, estates are doing across the whole, rich spectrum of fine wine.
Do the wines that Nicolas tastes inform the style of the wines he makes? I have never asked him, but I cannot imagine that they do not. What I do know is that I absolutely admire his refusal to be caught up in current trends and fashions. Sure, it might be de rigeur amongst certain fashionable domaines to dial right back on the new oak, but there are plenty of world benchmarks – from Chateau Latour to Penfolds Grange – that show how 100% new barrels can enhance, sustain and complement fruit without swamping it whatsoever.
If the contemporary / progressive use of 100% whole bunches seems to sit awkwardly with the throwback qualities of 100% new oak, I need only point you towards Domaine de la Romanee-Conti to demonstrate a pretty serious and well-established precedent!
The point of such a lengthy introduction is to give some context as to how I approached a recent dinner featuring a series of Groffier wines. Ultimately, my understanding of the style is that Nicolas is grounded in very traditional winemaking but approaches it through a very modern lens. I should also note that he is not didactic in his approach.
Sure, the top wines from the oldest vines do always tend to see 100% whole bunch and 100% new oak – but these are made from the most intense and concentrated fruit and can sustain this approach. Winemaking for the other crus is often fine-tuned each year, to suit the vintage. For example, in 2021 all the reds, aside from the Passetoutgrains, were made using 100% whole clusters and the Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Hauts Doix was matured in 40% new oak; in 2022 the Haux Doits featured 50% whole bunches and 33% new oak.
Of course, as fascinating as these production details might be, the only thing that really matters is how the wines perform in the glass, with food and shared with friends. With that in mind, and because I remain intrigued by Nicolas Groffier’s wines and frequently find them delicious, it was with great anticipation that I sat down Vinum’s Groffier dinner in Jakarta recently.
This was my second wine dinner at the excellent Bistecca restaurant (https://new.uniongroupjakarta.com/restaurant/bistecca) where they have a great private room and top-notch glassware. Once again, the local wine crowd was so welcoming and so impressive – the guys told me how much they were looking forward to the 2017 Amoureuses because they’d had a killer bottle just the week before, in comparison with the 1983 vintage! These guys are very serious, and very knowledgeable, as well as a serious amount of fun to share wine with.
2021 Gevrey Chambertin ‘Les Seuvrees’
We kicked off with this lieux dit village Gevrey that is situated just below Mazoyeres Chambertin Grand Cru, hard against the southerly border with Morey Saint Denis. I was interested to take a look at a 2021 as I am starting to see this initially rather unloved vintage being reassessed and upgraded in people’s opinions…
On first pour this starts out quite reductive and animal but cleans up to bright and vivid red fruit. Has the tart, crisp punch of acidity of 2021, giving lift and freshness. No new oak in this cru. Vibrant, with some mid-palate spice from the whole bunches. Fragrant, with some roses on the very back. As this blossomed with aeration in the glass it became strikingly charming and dynamic.
90/100
2017 Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Sentiers
I had actually had this wine the previous week at a tasting we held at 67 Pall Mall in Singapore (https://www.67pallmall.com/the-singapore-club/), where it had shown itself to be a serious out-performer, so I knew we were in for something of a treat.
Hugely seductive aromas, even redolent of Comte Liger-Belair in terms of smoke, spice, oak and whole bunch qualities. Floral and musky. The scented aspect continues on the palate, that maintains a high degree of intensity. Soars on the mid-palate. Extremely impressive and punching above its weight.
94/100
This was a wine I loved when we tasted the 2017s at Burgfest, when I described it as, “Definitively Chambolle in its profile and elegance” and gave it exactly the same 94/100 rating.
2017 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Whilst Domaine Robert Groffier is based in the heart of Morey Saint Denis, most of their vineyards are actually either in Gevrey, to the north, or Chambolle, to the south. The Grand Cru of Bonnes Mares straddles the Chambolle / Morey border and Groffier’s plot, whilst towards the Morey end of the vineyard, actually falls within the boundaries of Chambolle.
We served this wine before the Amoureuses as the 1er Cru seemed that much tighter and more structured when we tasted it before dinner.
At first the nose is closed and taciturn, even after a good few hours open. This character persists on the linear, dark-toned and mineral palate. Lots of blue fruit wrapped in a powerful and muscular structure. It is really only just starting to unfurl. The finish is richly perfumed, hinting at what’s to come. In the glass this takes its own sweet time but does build and amplify with air, gaining in spice and nuance. There’s huge potential here. 95/100
2017 Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses
A de facto Grand Cru and a vineyard consistently talked about as a candidate for promotion, this was the wine we were all waiting to taste. A bit like the Rayas wines recently described here (https://vinumfinewines.com/chateau-rayas-dinner-sometimes-lightning-does-strike-twice/), Amoureuses has that willow-the-whisp quality of always remaining just beyond reach and always just defying description.
Enigmatic, fine and scented. On the palate, this is immediately extreme in its elegance and the fine-grained, supremely silky texture. Both fine-boned and fine-spun. Roses, from the whole bunches, and exquisitely pure red fruit. Musky. Stunning and weightless. It builds in complexity and mineral tension with air. Wonderful!
97/100
