Domaine Philippe Leclerc 2016 Gevrey Chambertin, en Champs

Philippe Leclerc butts the mold of the Burgundy winemaker and certainly has created his own path. His family has owned land in Gevrey-Chambertin for over a hundred years so he grew up surrounded by vines. Philippe produced his first vintage in 1979 and has developed a loyal following, justifiably. Philippe Leclerc fashions magnificent Pinot Noirs in the Côte d’Or.

This wine, Gevrey-Chambertin en Champs, is a village level wine. The grapes for this wine come from an ideally located single vineyard just up the slope and a bit northeast of 1er cru les Cazetiers and the vines average 50 years-old.

Philippe crafts wines that are made to last, in the old way, but with all the benefits of modern know-how. This wine undergoes a cool maceration of about 15 days, followed by 15 days of fermentation, treading the cap by foot 3 times per day. He settles the wine before aging in oak barrels 30-50% new and then the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Burghound tasted it from barrel and scored it 89-91 saying "Outstanding" by Burghound: "Here there is no reductive funk and instead a nose that reflects notes of plum, earth, the sauvage and a hint of wood. There is both better minerality and a finer mouthfeel to the sleek and beautifully well-detailed flavors that deliver excellent length on the balanced bitter cherry pit-inflected finish. A classic Gevrey."