Article: Domaine Jérôme Chézeaux
Domaine Jérôme Chézeaux
2023 Vosne-Romanée
Today, I’m delighted to offer the 2023 Vosne-Romanée wines from Domaine Jérôme Chézeaux. I’ve been working with this domaine for almost ten years now and must admit, I’m grateful it’s stayed somewhat under the radar. If these wines ever received the press they deserve, they’d not only be next to impossible to source, but substantially more expensive.
One of the keys to being a savvy Burgundy buyer is knowing a little bit about the vineyards and where they’re located. Today, I’m showcasing two of Chézeaux’s premier crus from Vosne-Romanée:
Les Suchots, sandwiched between Romanée-St-Vivant, Richebourg, and Echezeaux; and
Les Chaumes, a vineyard that sits directly below La Tâche and Malconsorts.
When we taste Vosne-Romanée, we often hear about “Vosne Spice.” Once you’ve experienced its flavor, it will haunt you—there’s nothing quite like it. Expect red fruit, cherry, raspberry, violets, and what I feel is always a hallmark of Vosne-Romanée: a rose-petal perfume. The wines are fragrant on the nose, understated yet elegant on the palate. Vosne-Romanée never overwhelms with dark, brooding flavors; its power lies in its seductive texture and refined grace. When you find a great one, you don’t rush to drink it—you admire the color, swirl it, and simply breathe it in. Those subtle, nuanced flavors are what Burgundy is all about, and these Jérôme Chézeaux wines deliver in spades.
I’ve been a buyer since discovering the domaine in 2015. Across the board, the lineup never disappoints, but the Chaumes and Suchots truly elevate the collection. These wines haven’t been reviewed by the press in years—a mystery to me—but consequently, their prices remain sane. Comparable wines from these same vineyards easily fetch over $300.
Do yourself a favor and pick up a few bottles today—you’ll be glad you did.
NOTES: This vaunted 1er cru sits on a vein of limestone and marl in southern Vosne- Romanée. Chezeaux produces a wine that marries the exotic spice and succulent fruit of Vosne-Romanée with the mineral power of Nuits-Saint-Georges in hugely appealing fashion. This wine is consistently one of my favorites from the domaine. Chezeaux owns about four-tenths of a hectare in Chaumes, superbly situated just beneath La Tache and Aux Malconsorts. We have the rare privilege to access a tiny allocation of this wine annually. This “Les Chaumes” is wonderfully cool and introspective. With time in the glass, plums, black cherries, mint, violets and spices emerge, adding a wonderful sense of texture and depth. Elements of firmness underpin the fruit, suggesting the wine has a very bright future. Sweet red flowers, mint and spices add complexity on the finish. We were awestruck by its energy and tension.
NOTES:
Perhaps the greatest wine from this estate, “Les Suchots” sits on deep and heavy clay at 270 meters altitude. A veritable tsunami of swoon-worthy Vosne spice ushers in fruit both impressively broad and sumptuously precise, yet somehow everything remains focused and fine—a tour de force, vintage after vintage. Chezeaux owns a bit more than one-third of a hectare in this elite lieu-dit which sits opposite legendary Richebourg and Romanée Saint Vivant. Sweet dark berries, spices, flowers and mint are some of the notes that are woven into a finessed fabric of notable elegance. The “Suchots” is one of the most refined and sensual wines in the Chezeaux lineup and this 2022 version is a jaw-dropping knockout!
