La Combe d'Orveaux 2016

The wine in this vintage

2016 in Burgundy is remembered for the severe late-April frost that hit the Côte de Nuits hard, with Chambolle-Musigny among the worst-affected villages and yields in some cases drastically reduced. A warm, sunny summer then allowed the remaining grapes to ripen beautifully, producing concentrated, fresh and elegant wines. La Combe d’Orveaux 2016, a Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru from old vines bordering Échezeaux and Musigny, offers raspberry, cherry, rose, fine spice and an earthy note, on a silky, deep palate. Robert Parker rated it 93 points. Already enjoyable, it can be cellared for many years to come.

The producer · Domaine Bruno Clavelier

Domaine Bruno Clavelier is based in Vosne-Romanée, in the Côte de Nuits, and draws on a long family history of winegrowing. Bruno Clavelier, trained as an oenologist and passionate about geology, took over the estate in the late 1980s and gave it a radical new direction. He was among the first in Burgundy to embrace organic and then biodynamic farming, aiming to restore life to the soils and let the differences between terroirs emerge with maximum transparency. The vineyard holdings, spread across Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle-Musigny, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Gevrey-Chambertin and Corton, consist largely of old vines, some over sixty years of age, propagated by massal selection. In the cellar the approach is gentle: grapes often not fully destemmed, soft extractions, measured use of new oak and patient ageing. Clavelier’s wines are prized for their purity, the fine grain of their tannins and the precision with which they tell the story of each parcel, authentic expressions of artisanal Burgundy, free of excess and faithful to place.

Critics' scores

• 93 Robert Parker

Technical details

Producer

Domaine Bruno Clavelier

Region

Burgundy

Country

Francia

Type

Rosso

Vintage

2016

When to drink

Hold, still evolving

Critics' average

93/100

Sizes

75 cl, Magnum 150 cl, Case of 6 × 75 cl

eWibe code

0840116