Robertparker.com | RP 94-95
Published: Jan 18, 2024

The 2022 Chambertin Grand Cru, from a plot at the top of the slope touching Latricières, will be Bouchard's last. This is always one of the most ethereal renditions of this site, and this vintage is no exception. Wafting from the glass are scents of red berries, sweet spices, blood orange, potpourri and baking chocolate, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fine-boned and melting palate that's pure, sensual and seamless, with bright acids and a mouthwateringly saline finish.

The 2022 vintage is another tour de force for Bouchard, as the accompanying tasting notes reflect. Technical director Frédéric Weber reported little in the way of hydric stress, with rapid ripening at the end of the season that saw some parcels accumulate 1.5% potential alcohol in as little as three days. Fortunately, the team hadn't performed any deleafing and were able to apply protective kaolin clay as sunblock for the leaves and fruit to ride out the heat wave. Harvest began on August 26, with anything picked after 11 a.m. left overnight in a cold room for processing the following day, and the harvesters stopping work at 2 p.m.

As I've written before, viticulture chez Bouchard is among the best of the big houses (I drive past their Beaune vineyards several hundred times every year). Organic conversion is underway, and canopies are now hedged to 1.30 meters, around 30 centimeters higher than the classic low rognage that still predominates along the Côte—forward-thinking innovations that will no doubt find imitators in short order among other big players. Vinifications in red increasingly incorporate whole bunches, and whites are barreled down before the end of alcoholic fermentation, with foudres now employed for the second winter of élevage for some cuvées.

Winemaker

TASTING NOTE: Deep and intense on the nose developing flavours of fruit and spice entwined with subtle oaky hints. Perfect marriage between grace and liveliness, strength and finesse. A superb wine displaying exceptional persistence and of great ageing potential.
FOOD/WINE PAIRING: Game, venison, full-flavoured cheeses.
SERVING TEMPERATURE: Between 17?C to 18?C
AGEING POTENTIAL: 10 years and more

KNOW - HOW
HARVEST: manual, in small cases of 13 kg. Careful manual sorting of each grape.
VINIFICATION: Following hand picking in small cases and ruthless sorting of the grapes, pressing takes place in two phases: evacuation of the first juice, then pressing in two- hourly cycles. Depending on the profile of the vintage, vatting lasts 18 to 21 days, then maturing is carried out for 12 to 14 months in French oak barrels, with 45 to 60% new oak.
AGEING: The cellars located in the Bastions of the ancient Chateau de Beaune offer ideal ambient conditions. Thanks to their natural hygrometry and constant temperatures, the Grands Crus enjoy from their first youth an environment that is perfectly adapted to tranquil ageing.

VINEYARD
GRAPE VARIETY: Pinot Noir
EXPOSITION: East
TOTAL SURFACE OF THE APPELATION IN PRODUCTION:15 hectares
DOMAIN SURFACE IN PRODUCTION: 0.15 hectares