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Jean-Louis Trapet is one of the great names in Gevrey-Chambertin. He is fashioning wines that are elegant and pure, much like himself. He is creating the soil-driven and absolutely pure wines of his father and grandfather’s era. While the estate is best known for its three grand crus, the quality at Domaine Trapet is outstanding up and down the hierarchy of their vineyard holdings. The vineyards have been fully farmed under biodynamic principles since 1996 and have been certified biodynamic since 2009.
Grape
100% Pinot Noir
Vineyard & Vinification Note
Chapelle-Chambertin: 60 acres, 1 parcelle – oldest vine planted in 1945
In the old days it was called Grande Chapelle or Haute Chapelle. One of the little Gevrey vintages, it is also one of the greatest in complexity and refinement
From this warm, shallow, well-drained soil, composed of fine clays and blocks of limestone below, fine, rich and expressive wines are born.
When the harvest comes in, having already been sorted in the vineyard, it is hand-sorted once more then and de-stemmed to a degree, dependent on the vintage.
Cold maceration of between 5 and 7 days encouraging greater depth of colour and more intense aromatics, without extracting too harsh tannins. Lightly crushed, there is then a long cuvaison, for more gentle extraction. Fermentation is carried out in open top vats, with natural yeasts.
The wines are aged for 15 to 18 months in barrel, the proportion of new wood depending on the wine. The purpose of the oak, in the Trapets’ view, is to facilitate controlled oxidation of the young wines. The wines remain in cask for between 12 and 18 months before bottling. The wines are essentially neither fined nor filtered but this depends on the vintage. At any rate no more that 10% would ever be filtered.
The Wine Advocate Tasting Note
The 2009 Chapelle-Chambertin is the richest, roundest and most open of the Trapet Grand Crus. It is also the Grand Cru that shows the most vintage influence vis-a-vis the 2008s. High-toned expressive aromatics lead to a warm, radiant core of fruit. In 2009 the Chapelle is round, sweet, full and totally inviting from start to finish. The wine’s accessible personality is a very nice counter to the typically firm house style. Accordingly, the Chapelle should be the most enjoyable of the 2009 Grand Crus for early drinking. Trapet describes Chapelle as the domaine’s first vineyard to flower and ripen. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2039.
94 Points – Antonio Galloni, May 2011
Allen Meadows’ Burghound Tasting Note
Here the discreet wooded but elegant nose is at once perfumed and earthy with a mélange of floral nuances and freshly crushed wild red currants. There is excellent transparency to the pure, focused and tautly muscled medium weight plus flavors that possess real verve and excellent delineation on the very firm and quite linear finish that is not only strikingly persistent but also almost painfully intense. 94 Points – January 2012
Food Pairing
A great partner of guinea fowl, chicken, duck, rack of lamb or a simple steak (no heavy sauces. Also good partner with cheeses (not pungent)