Jerome Chezeaux 2024
We have been offering the wines from Jérôme Chézeaux since falling in love with them in 2017. Seven vintages later, I'm still in love with the wines and amazed that they aren't better known. I guess if they were better known they'd be a lot more expensive and nearly impossible to find!
How do you go wrong with Suchots, Chaumes, and Vaucrains? You don't!
Suchots and Chaumes make up the high-rent neighborhood in Vosne-Romanée, and if there were Grand Crus in Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vaucrains would surely be in the conversation. A vineyard's location plays a significant role in the quality of the wines, and when you couple that with meticulous vineyard work, that's a recipe for a winning hand.
I've turned a number of you onto these wines and watched delightedly as you've come back for the following vintage. Once you taste the wines, it's easy to understand why I'm so excited by them. There is a purity to the fruit that speaks of place — the two Vosne-Romanée wines are incredibly floral, with aromatics of red and black fruit and a spicy undertone. The balance and grace are impeccable, and it's easy to understand why Vosne-Romanée holds such a special place in our hearts. The Vaucrains is a wine that shows more power, but by no means in a heavy way — excellent balance with a slightly firmer backbone, which is understandable given that we're in Nuits-Saint-Georges.
2024 was a vintage that saw a great many challenges. It was an incredibly wet spring and summer, which meant vignerons were constantly in the vineyards applying treatments to protect their vines from mildew and oidium until the sun finally came out. Those who persevered and did the work harvested a smaller-than-normal crop, but one with great freshness and delicacy.
If you got into Burgundy in the last 10 or so years, 2024 is a vintage I think a lot of people won't understand right off. The flavors are a bit more subdued and the nuances tend to be much more subtle. It's a vintage where the terroir speaks of a sense of place rather than the fruit being out in front leading the way. I crave these cooler vintages in today's Burgundy world, as these were the sort of wines I grew up learning about. And if history teaches us anything, it's that these cooler vintages tend to develop into "classic" Burgundy wines that are an absolute pleasure to drink — that is, if you can keep your hands off of them.
I invite you to explore this very well-curated selection from Domaine Jérôme Chézeaux. I did cherry-pick the best wines in the lineup. I think once you discover these, they'll be wines you continue to seek out. Very warmly recommended.
