Growers / France / Burgundy / Côte de Nuits / Jean Chauvenet

Jean Chauvenet

The wines of Nuits-Saint-Georges are not soft in their youth, but that is the true character of the terroir: robust tannins, dark fruit, and a mineral infusion from the iron-inflected soils that, taken together, can only come from this singular district.


We began our work with Jean Chauvenet, the founder of this domaine, in 1982 and for over twenty years we participated as the exclusive US importer for the estate’s wines and observed with pleasure as Jean Chauvenet and then, his son-in-law, Christophe Drag, built this domaine into one of the most highly respected producers working the vineyards of Nuits-Saint-Georges. Though an unfortunate misunderstanding caused us to part company in 2004, we explored a renewal of the relationship with the domaine in 2014, and the exceptional quality of the wines convinced us to once again represent this classic estate. With no less than seven premier crus complemented by serious Bourgogne Rouge and Villages-level cuvées, the comprehensive scope of vineyard holdings over their 9.5 hectares is among the greatest in the appellation. The wines of Nuits-Saint-Georges are not soft in their youth, but that is the true character of the terroir: robust tannins, dark fruit, and a mineral infusion from the iron-inflected soils that, taken together, can only come from this singular district. The estate’s holdings are farmed with the underlying objective of achieving certification as an organic grower in the coming years. Harvest is manual. Vinification is classic with 100% destemming and a brief period of cold maceration followed by two to three weeks of cuvaison, the length of which is determined by the appellation and the inherent structure of each wine. A decanting follows and then the wine is moved into small barrels where the malolactic occurs. An elevage of about 18 months occurs and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration.

textured background of dirt

Farming

Lutte Raisonnée since 1994

Treatments

Synthetic treatments only when necessary, no herbicides since 2003

Ploughing

Annual ploughing to promote soil health

Soils

Limestone-clay

Vines

Average age 40 years, with many of the oldest vines over 70 years old. All are trained in Guyot and planted at c. 11,000 vines/ha

Yields

Controlled through severe winter pruning and debudding; yields average 35-40 hl/ha

Harvest

Entirely manual, usually in mid-late September

PURCHASING

Entirely estate fruit

Fermentation

Wines ferment spontaneously in stainless-steel tanks following total destemming and a 4-5 day cold soak. Cuvaison lasts 3-4 weeks

Extraction

Mostly pumpovers, with some punchdowns depending on the nature of the vintage

Chaptalization

Chaptalization when necessary

Pressing

Pneumatic pressing

Malolactic Fermentation

Spontaneous, in barrel in the spring

Élevage

15-18 months in 228-l oak barrels. Regional wines see no new oak; village wines see 15-25%; and 1er cru wines see 20-33%

LEeS

All wines rest on their fine lees until assemblage prior to bottling

FINING & FILTRATION

All wines are unfined and unfiltered

SULFUR

Applied at harvest, racking after malolactic, and bottling; c. 15-20 mg/l free sulfur

Farming

Lutte Raisonnée since 1994

Treatments

Synthetic treatments only when necessary, no herbicides since 2003

Ploughing

Annual ploughing to promote soil health

Soils

Limestone-clay

Vines

Average age 40 years, with many of the oldest vines over 70 years old. All are trained in Guyot and planted at c. 11,000 vines/ha

Yields

Controlled through severe winter pruning and debudding; yields average 35-40 hl/ha

Harvest

Entirely manual, usually in mid-late September

PURCHASING

Entirely estate fruit

Fermentation

Wines ferment spontaneously in stainless-steel tanks following total destemming and a 4-5 day cold soak. Cuvaison lasts 3-4 weeks

Extraction

Mostly pumpovers, with some punchdowns depending on the nature of the vintage

Chaptalization

Chaptalization when necessary

Pressing

Pneumatic pressing

Malolactic Fermentation

Spontaneous, in barrel in the spring

Élevage

15-18 months in 228-l oak barrels. Regional wines see no new oak; village wines see 15-25%; and 1er cru wines see 20-33%

Lees

All wines rest on their fine lees until assemblage prior to bottling

Fining & Filtration

All wines are unfined and unfiltered

Sulfur

Applied at harvest, racking after malolactic, and bottling; c. 15-20 mg/l free sulfur

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