2016 Harmand Geoffroy Gevrey Chambertin: Can they Get Any Better?

Harmand Geoffroy comes from a handful of Burgundy producers that for about a decade now, I have been touting and selling to private customers. The prices have always been spectacular. The quality magnificent and the style old school. I had a chance to try a handful of the 2016 vintage below and as I am still shocked as to how people have not picked up on the quality of these yet and my supply is always in abundance. Seriously people, I don't what you have going on today that is so important but you better get on these. This is the next best thing in Burgundy! 


The Harmand-Geoffroy family has worked the land in Gevrey-Chambertin since the end of the 19th century, and today the nine-hectare domaine is undergoing a passing of the torch from father Gerard to son Philippe. Although their wines have always displayed an attractively unforced classicism, they have made notable strides in terms of precision, balance, and expressiveness over the past five years, due in large part to improvements in their cellar work: employing better temperature control during fermentation; managing extraction with greater gentleness and sensitivity; eschewing pumping and moving the wines by gravity only; and refining their oak sources and barrel regimens. The wines today express the telltale meat-and-mineral core of Gevrey-Chambertin with a combination of robust power and an almost glowing clarity of fruit, and the widely varying terroirs are always vividly differentiated, even in the richest of vintages. The vast majority of Harmand-Geoffroy’s holdings are between 55 and 95 years of age (some are even older), and the wines offer a wonderful concentration commensurate with these extremely old, low-yielding vines. Add to that the fact that the family vineyards sweep across the entirety of the appellation from north to south thus providing a rare and breath-taking immersion into the fabled terroir of Gevrey Chambertin.

2016 was a vintage reduced in yield by a good 30%; and one might conclude that this is a good thing, with harvests of diminished quantity but resulting greater concentration. Such is the case overall, but with certain caveats…sometimes the increased density and ripeness of a wine can leave it with reduced freshness and vigor. These are singing from top to bottom; Sinatra meets Lady Gaga and they decided to invest in Gevrey Chambertin.

 

• 10% off any 6, 15% off any 12
• Wines Ready to Ship Mid-October

2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 
Sale Price: $69.99
An “uber-classic” Gevrey sourced from multiple small parcels (covering more than four hectares) throughout the village which enables the wine to capture the true nature of this grand appellation; the youngest vines for this cuvée are 25 years of age with the oldest being 80 years old (calculated as of 2011). Rich, yet graceful, this Gevrey shows the wild berry fruit and charming rusticity that are the hallmarks of true Gevrey Chambertin. Depending on harvest levels, there are 100 to 200 cases available annually for the US market.


2016 Gevrey-Chambertin “En Jouise”
Sale Price: $80.99
A lovely wine produced from very old vines (between 60 and 80 years of age); this parcel sits beneath and to the side of Clos Prieur and like its relative neighbors, e.g. Mazis Chambertin, it is a wine of finesse and elegance with silky tannins and a more openly fruity approach. The domaine owns a bit more than a hectare of “En Jouise” making this one of the more important cuvées of the domaine. 


2016 Gevrey-Chambertin “Clos Prieur”
Sale Price: $94.99
This wine is from a contiguous parcel that sits astride the Clos Prieur du Haut (classified 1er Cru) and the Clos Prieur du Bas (classified as a village wine); rather than create two tiny cuvées, the domaine prefers to blend the two to make an extra-fine village wine from the lieu-dit “Clos Prieur”. Harmand-Geoffroy owns a bit less than a half-hectare of vineyards in Clos Prieur and the vines therein were planted between 50 and 80 years ago (dated as of 2011). In our opinion, this is one of the finest village wines available from Gevrey; it is elegant yet powerful with a compelling density and ripe, sweet tannins. 

2016 Gevrey-Chambertin “Vieilles Vignes”
Sale Price: $94.99 
As is the case with almost every wine that issues from the Harmand-Geoffroy cellars, this cuvée is the product of very old vines; in this instance, the vines were planted 50 to 80 years ago (as of 2011). The result is one of the most powerful wines in the cellar that shows dark, almost somber fruit, a wine that is reticent in its youth and quite profound with seven to ten years of age. The parcels for this wine (En Champs, Champerrier, Combes du Dessus) are situated just beneath the fine 1er Cru “Les Champeaux” and the wine reflects the sturdy, complex aspect of the vines on the north side of Gevrey, the Brochon side


2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “La Perriere”
Sale Price: $119.99 
The first stop on Harmand-Geoffroy’s tour of Gevrey premier crus, “La Perriere” is nestled just below grand cru Mazis-Chambertin on the slope, immediately north of the premier cru section of “Clos Prieur.” This premier cru is located just beneath Mazis Chambertin in the southern tier of Gevrey, a zone which typically provides wines of finesse that are graced by silky tannins. Here, we have a wine frequently marked by red fruits, rather than black; a seductive wine of excellent balance. Production is very limited as the Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy owns a mere 3/10 of a hectare; the vines are 45 years of age (as of 2011).


2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “La Bossiere – Monopole”
Sale Price: $119.99
The entirety of this tiny premier cru belongs to the Harmand-Geoffroy. It is situated at the top of the Combe de Lavaux in the northern tier of Gevrey Chambertin in a zone that is slightly colder in climate; thus, the wine is often elegant and austere with notes of wild berries being dominant. This vineyard, encompassing slightly less than a half-hectare, has some of the youngest vines of the domaine (25 years of age as of 2011) and it will continue to gain in importance and depth as these vines age. A source of only 300 bottles for the US market annually.


2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “Les Champeaux”
Sale Price: $134.99
Situated on a rocky face high on the Combe de Lavaux in the northwestern sector of Gevrey Chambertin, the Champeaux produces a wine of great nobility and complexity. The Harmand-Geoffroy domaine exploits a mere 2/10 of a hectare of vines in Champeaux, some of which were planted 80 years ago (as of 2011). We consider this lieu-dit to be amongst the very finest sites in this renowned appellation. 


2016 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “Lavaux Saint Jacques”
Sale Price: $134.99
This fabled vineyard site, sitting in the heart of the Combe de Lavaux, produces a wine of great breadth and depth with wild berry notes (both red and black), ample body and formidable age-ability. The domaine works almost 7/10 of a hectare, making this 1er Cru one of the most important holdings for Harmand-Geoffroy. The vines were planted between 40 and 90 years ago (as of 2011) so yields are small and the juice quite concentrated. 


2016 Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru
Sale Price: $239.99
The Harmand-Geoffroy domaine works a substantial section of this fine Grand Cru … over three-quarters of a hectare. The vines are between 40 and 70 years of age (as of 2011); they face east and sit on well-drained, marne-infused soil. As is often the case with the Grand Crus in this southern tier of Gevrey, this wine, although powerful, is distinguished and fine with notes of raspberry and red cherry fruit in its youth supplemented with the aromas of violet, rose and clove; a more wild side emerges as the wine ages and pepper, licorice and leather add nuance to this beautiful beast