Domaine Roumier, Chambolle-Musigny

Christophe Roumier & Anthony Hanson

This domaine has a massive reputation, of course. The estate dates back to 1924, when Georges Roumier started to run his wife’s family’s vineyards in Chambolle-Musigny. Initially the wines were sold in barrel to the local trade, but from 1945 domaine-bottling was developed.

It has been a top Côte de Nuits source for over 50 years, becoming recognised, over the last three decades, as one of Burgundy’s true super-stars. This is thanks to the brilliance of Christophe Roumier (who joined the Domaine in 1981) – one of the most talented, inspiring wine-makers of his generation.

The wines come from vineyards cultivated with respect for the environment, without fertilisers or weed-killers. The fruit is brought to ripeness thanks to careful, low yields, and many tiny attentions to detail. Hand-picking is followed by careful sorting, then by partial de-stemming of the bunches. Fermentations often start slowly, to allow cool, gentle extraction, then last up to 3 weeks, bringing structure, fruit intensity, supple, fleshy tannins and complex length. Ageing partially in new oak, allows gentle oxygenation, developing bouquet.

These are sturdy wines of character, with great potential for silkiness when mature. Bottling takes place without filtration, and often without fining, accounting for the exceptional, creamy textures, great length of flavour and complexities. Securing allocations from the domaine of these beautiful wines is challenging, as demand greatly exceeds the tiny supply.

“The fruit was very beautiful, I’m very happy with the vintage, which doesn’t show the drought or heat of the year” Christophe told us. “The wines have lots of energy, and plenty of pleasures, with enough backbone – it’s a great vintage.”