“I always look forward to my visits to the Trapet Family”. Meeting up with Jean-Louis Trapet and the family is always a special moment for Christophe Galez, MD and Founder at C&C.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN THE TRAPET FAMILY?

“I visited them back in 1995. My colleagues at the time went to a tasting Club in Paris and visited a few producers in Burgundy and convinced me to go and visit Domaine Trapet.”

HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THEM?

“I hadn’t heard or tasted the wines. When we visited the Domaine, I met up with Jean-Louis and Jean. They had nothing to sell but after a couple of hours of talking, Jean-Louis opened a bottle for me to try, I cannot remember the vintage exactly, but it was in the 1960s. Mind blowing! We started selling their wines straight after that visit.”

DESCRIBE JEAN-LOUIS TRAPET IN A FEW WORDS

“Very open-minded, erudite, cultivated, passionate, has a vision very open to innovative ideas, he leaves a lot of freedom to his children, as his father Jean left him.”

AND ANDRÉE TRAPET?

“She is very involved in the Burgundy Domaine, even if her roots are Alsatian. Same spirit as JL.”

HOW INVOLVED IS JEAN?

“Jean lives about 300 metres from the Domaine so he visits from time to time and might join a tasting if there are people he knows. On my last visit, Jean popped in to see me. He said “It’s so nice to see you again, I remember when you came to see us for the first time. You supported us from the beginning, even if, at the time, we were not the winegrowers that we are now, we have a long history together.”

I found this very touching and that’s why I always look forward to visiting this charming family.”

HOW DOES A TASTING TYPICALLY TAKE PLACE AT TRAPET?

“When I visit them, it is never really to taste the wines but rather the pleasure of seeing each other again and exchanging ideas. Jean Louis will talk about the vintage and we will taste together a few crus. He always opens an old vintage. During one of my last visits he opened a Latricieres 1999.”

BESIDE THE QUALITY OF THE WINES, WHAT MAKES A VISIT TO THE TRAPETS SPECIAL?

“I always look forward to see them as they are such an interesting family, incredible visionaries and innovators. The Trapet family is welcoming, very open-minded and extremely kind. As I said, it’s not about tasting the wines, it’s a great moment of exchange.”

DO THEY INSIST ON YOU HAVING LUNCH WITH THEM?

“They always ask me to stay for lunch or dinner, even if they are busy, so we can have a proper catch up. Andrée does the cooking. We eat around the kitchen table, with all simplicity and no fuss. They usually make traditional dishes such as boeuf bourguignon, jambon persillé or gougères. Whatever is served in la table d’hôte on the day. They always serve a nice cheese from the Gevrey-Chambertin fromagerie.”

DESCRIBE THE TRAPET IN A FEW WORDS

“Elegant, refined, pure expression of the terroir. Expression of Pinot Noir at its best.”

List of Trapet wines here