Winehog - with a passion

Burgundy Insights from the Winehog

Example: Terroir Insight – Griotte-Chambertin

Griotte-Chambertin has a special place in my Burgundy heart – as it was one of the first Grand Crus I acquired when I began to collect Burgundies around 1990.

I adore a good Griotte as it often seems to offer both drinkability and delicate complexity not often found in a Gevrey – aside form the magnificent Ruchottes-Chambertin.

Griotte Chambertin is a small vineyard – but there is nevertheless eight “regular” producers of Griotte, and furthermore there are some negociant bottlings once in a while.

So lets take a closer look at Griottes-Chambertin.

Griotte-Chambertin the vineyard

Griotte-Chambertin is the smallest of the Gevrey Grand Crus – with a total area of 2.73 ha. It’s located just below Chambertin Clos de Bezé and just south of Champelle-Chambertin – see map below.


Griotte-Chambertin was rated 1ere cuvée by Lavalle1 in 1855 – with only Le Chambertin and Clos de Bezé rated as Tête de Cuvée. Strangely Griotte was not rated in 1861 in the classification made by Comité d’Agriculture2 and is not mentioned in the classification tables. Rodier4 rated Griotte as Deuxiémes cuvée alongside Ruchottes, Latriciere, Mazis and Charmes- but below Clos de Bezé and Le Chambertin.

The current ownership of Griotte-Chambertin

There are one dominant owner on Griotte-Chambertin – Domaine des Chezeaux – who owns 1.57 ha of the 2.73 ha vineyard – equivalent to almost 60%.

Chezeaux is however not producing wine from the large plots – they rent the plots to Domaine Ponsot and Domaine Rene Leclerc – but sell some of the production under the Domaine Chezeaux label.

The following producers/owners make Griotte-Chambertin currently:

  1. Domaine Ponsot / Chezeaux – 0.89 ha
  2. Domaine Rene Leclerc / Chezeaux – 0.68 ha
  3. Maison Joseph Drouhin – 0.53 ha
  4. Domaine Fourrier – 0.26 ha
  5. Domaine Claude Dugat – 0.15 ha
  6. Domaine Marchand Frerés – 0.13 ha
  7. Domaine Joseph Roty – 0.08 ha
  8. Domaine Duroche – 0.0192 ha

The map below show the plots of the producers mentioned in the list above – please notice the complex structure in the lower northern corner – where the Roty plot is located inside the Fourrier section of Griotte. 


I have made a more detailed map over the lower northern corner – where the Roty and Fourrier plots are shown in greater detail – see below.

The largest owner Domaine Chezeaux …. owned by the Mercier family

Domaine Chezeaux is owned by the Mercier family, who owns quite a lot of top end vineyards.

The Mercier family came to Gevrey-Chambertin in 1928, and the name of the estate comes from the vineyard Gevrey-Chambertin Clos des Chezeaux close to the Mercier estate in Gevrey.

As mentioned above they own two sections of Griotte-Chambertin – one rented as metayage to Domaine Ponsot since 1982, and one aquired later currently exploited by Domaine Rene Leclerc.

I will cover the Domaine Chezeaux Griotte-Chambetin in a separate article, as this is a very complex story.

The ownership history of Griotte-Chambertin

The ownership history of Griotte-Chambertin is not very well documented. All the current owners are relatively “new” i.e. the plots are not directly related to the ownership recorded by Rodier in 19204.

Rodier4 mentioned three owners of La Grilotte – Henri Gouroux, Rebourseau-Philippon (the current Rebourseau estate) and Thomas Bassot but indicated there were more than those mentioned. The Fourrier plot presumably dates back to the 1930s or 1940s when the estate was called Pernot-Fourrier.

Danguy & Aubertin3 mentioned the following owners of La Grilotte-Haute … no mention of the lower part of Grilotte.

  • M. Joliet-Serrigny
  • M. Rebourseau-Philippon
  • MM. Thomas-Bassot et Fils

Presumably the Joliet-Serrigny share was sold to Henri Gouroux – but the evidence is not very strong – as the Henri Gouroux ownership of Grilotte is relatively undocumented.

Moving back to Lavalle1 (1855) we find the following owners of Grilotte (haute):

  • MM. Pastol
  • Noël
  • Genret
  • Mme Veuve Jondot

I have not been able to link these names to any of the owners mentioned by Danguy & Aubertin in 1892.

The size of Griotte-Chambertin

The current size of Griotte-Chambertin – the sum of the cadastre plots – is 2.73 ha, which is a bit less than the areas recorded by Rodier4 and Lavalle1. Lavalle mention an area of 2.90 ha, but was refering to Grilotte (haute) – the same area was mentioned by Rodier4 in 1920.

Looking at the old cadastre maps from 1828 it seems like the road between Griotte-Chamberin and Charmes-Chambertin has been changed slightly and this is where the change in the area has occured. The number of plots in the southern end of the vineyard was quite a lot larger in 1828 – and there is no mention about Griotte hautes … and the name is spelled as today – Griotte – and not Grilotte like in Rodier and Lavalle.

Griotte-Chambertin – the sensual Gevrey grand cru

While Le Chambertin and Clos de Beze can produce bigger and more complex wines, and Ruchotte-Chambertin more refined and elegant wines – none of them seems to quite match the perfumed sensuality found in a fine Griotte-Chambertin.

A top Griotte is effortless and hedonistic and is build to please. While they require time they do mature quicker than the big guns from Beze and Le C.

A Griotte often offer a wide range of red and dark berries supported by a deep stony minerality .. the tannins are often quite soft … and the wine is generous – but it’s still one of the lightest of the Gevrey grand crus.

For me the top picks here are Fourrier, Ponsot, Joseph Roty and Claude Dugat. I clealy prefer the Griotte to the Charmes from Claude Dugat – as the Griotte ad some delicacy and complexity to the otherwise somewhat sturdy Dugat style.

The best Griotte I have tasted is the 1999 from Fourrier … a very delicate and refined 1999. I also have very fond memories of Griotte 1990 from Ponsot and the 1991 Domaine Chezeaux. The Griotte from Roty is very rare indeed, but also very fine indeed.

Tasting notes – Griotte-Chambertin

References & Sources:

  1. Jules Lavalle, Histoire et Statistique de la Vignes et Des Grands Vins de la Côte d’Or (1855)
  2. Batault-Morot, E. Plan statistique des vignobles produisant les grands vins de Bourgogne. (1861)
  3. M.R. Danguy et M. Ch. Aubertin, Les Grands Vins de Bourgogne (1892)
  4. Camille Rodier, Le Vin de Bourgogne (1920)