Jérome Chézeaux strictly follows the most traditional of methods in the cellar being firmly “non-interventionist”. The purity of his wines is revelatory; there is an understated majesty to every offering in the portfolio. After a manual harvest, the grapes undergo a cold maceration of 3 to 4 days and the entire cuvaison extends for approximately three weeks. During that time remontage and pigeage are practiced; the extent to which both techniques are used depends on the structure of the vintage. Indigenous yeasts are used exclusively and malolactic fermentation occurs in small oak barrels during the extended elevage. Each year between a quarter and one-third of the barrels are replaced which means that the wines are exposed at most to 30% new oak. The wines are bottled without filtration between 18 to 24 months after harvest.
Made from a .8-hectare parcel in Premeaux-Prissey, the Aligoté is always an impressive regional-level wine. It typically carries a good underlying acidity that translates toward citrus and flint, with good length and density. The wine finishes quite dry with a chalky tannic character.
This is a rare Bourgogne Blanc that is still made principally from Pinot Blanc from a small .36-hectare parcel of old vines. The vineyard is composed of about 80% Pinot Blanc and 20% Chardonnay. The grapes are harvested and fermented together and aged half in barrel and half in stainless steel for about nine months before being bottled. The wine is quite fresh, with a bright floral nose. It is round on the palate, but the fruit feels cool and vibrant, with underlying earthy notes of dried flowers.
The Chezeaux family owns almost four hectares of vineyards within the village appellation of Nuits Saint Georges. The vineyards are found within a number of lieu-dits but the ultimate cuvée that is bottled is principally from the Charbonniere site supplemented by Les Chaliots and Aux Saint Julien. The vines are very old, some being planted over eighty years ago. The soil is a mix of silts of clay, reddish-brown in color, overlain with limestone pebbles.
Jèrôme works three parcels (“Bossières,” “Mezière” and “Aux Réas”) totaling a little more than half a hectare to make this village wine. At first whiff, it is clear that one has left the Nuits appellation. The fruit here is dark, with regal notes of truffle and lavender. The texture is softer and more fruit-forward than his wines from Nuits-Saint-Georges, and the tannins are a bit finer and more forgiving, a complex village level wine that punches way above its weight.
This fabled vineyard is situated at the northernmost juncture of Nuits Saint Georges as it touches Vosne Romanée. The Chezeaux parcel is .34 hectares and is on an 18 degree east-facing slope at about 270 meters altitude. Because of its proximity to Vosne, this is the Nuits cuvée that tends to be the most tender, precocious and elegant of the quartet of 1er Crus within this domaine.
his wine is consistently one of our favorites from the domaine. Chezeaux owns about four-tenths of an hectare in Chaumes which is in the southern part of the village of Vosne and is superbly situated just beneath La Tache and Aux Malconsorts on a vein of limestone and marl.
