2016 Clos de Vougeot, Grand Cru, Domaine Jean Grivot, Burgundy

Grivot has 1.86 hectares, but in one important parcel. Their vines start close to the road but run unbroken across the three different terroirs of the Clos. This Cru is about solidity and strength, and is unlikely to ever be pretty. Mathilde offered the alarming analogy of not wanting to see a rugby player in a dress. In this vintage, a rugby player, certainly, but perhaps with just a frisson of empathy. Drink 2025-2038.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

Jean Grivot, whose name continues to appear on the labels, took over from his father Gaston in 1955 and handed the estate on to his son Étienne in the early 1980s. Étienne, married to Marielle Bize from Savigny, has been through a number of incarnations as winemaker here. When he took over, his father’s style was for gentle, graceful wines which perhaps were a little weak in the lesser vintages. Étienne wanted to produce something more concentrated and started working with the controversial oenologist Guy Accad from 1987 to 1992. Since then Étienne has found his own voice and made a range of increasingly fine wines. The drive to reduce yields and fine-tune his work in the vineyards and cellar since the mid-2000s continues to enhance quality. The next generation, Mathilde and Hubert, are now working with their parents. The generational pendulum shifts a bit further here, with Mathilde and Hubert further to the fore this year, and Étienne says he was around more as an advisor. Mathilde reported that some of the early bunches were ready by the end of August, with small berries and thick skins. They waited and got the ideal amount of rain in September which allowed their harvest to homogenise, and they began on 27th September. Mathilde also gave a blow- by-blow analysis of every vineyard’s frost damage. There is no Chambolle d’Orveau this year.