Laurent Roumier

Laurent Roumier is the grandson of the legendary Georges Roumier and his holdings originate from that grand old estate with more recent additions of 6 hectares in the Hautes Cotes de Nuits being purchased in the 1990s and further purchases in Chambolle Musigny.

His father Alain was the cellar master for Comte de Vogue for nearly 3 decades before taking his portion of the family vineyards to farm for his own family. The cellars are almost next door to Georges Roumier at the back of the village in the rue de Vergy (which perhaps could be called the 'rue des Roumiers' as the various branches of the family seem to occupy most of the lane).

Wines here appear stylistically very similar to those of Georges with even the same barrels and oak used as his cousins though one notable difference is that Laurent mostly de-stems giving wines that show excellent depth of colour and which are more immediately perfumed and accessible in their youth while still having ample depth and structure to age classically.

In recent vintages Laurent’s son is now working with him lending not only another set of hands but fresh perspectives and bringing new energy together with some more investments including extensions to the cellar and renewal to some of the winemaking areas. The relatively modern cellar enables wine to be moved with ease by gravity into barrel following ferments.

The domaine is made up of the following vineyard holdings:

·         3 hectares of vines in the Bourgogne appellation (one in the Chambolle-Musigny appellation, the other in Gilly-les-Citeaux) much of this is sold off as grapes.
·         6 hectares in Bourgogne-Hautes-Côte-de-Nuits rouge planted 1970s to 2000 and 0.71 hectares of the same parcel in white
·         2 hectares of Chambolle-Musigny villages planted 1960s to 1990s
·         900m2 of Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru “Les Noirots”
·         650m2 of Cambolle-Musigny 1er cru “Les Groseille”
·         690m2 of Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru “Les Gruenchers”
·         4,120m2 of Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru “Les Charmes” planted early 1980s
·         3,620m2 of Bonnes-Mares planted 1938 (from the Georges Roumier estate)
·         8,550m2 of Clos-Vougeot - this wine comes from their vineyard in the highest part adjoining Grands Echezeaux and was replanted 1975 (from the Georges Roumier estate in 1997)

The vines are on average 35 years old, and they are farmed traditionally and responsibly, “the same way his father, Alain, did”: naturally, with neither fertilizer nor herbicide. Green harvests are carried out in the summer when necessary. All of the vines are harvested by hand.

In the cellar, the work is carried out with the same level of precision. The grapes are entirely destemmed the vinified in concrete vats. Alcoholic fermentation lasts around 15 days, with pumping over and punching down every day, and the temperature is checked every day. When it comes to pressing, the team decants the wines for 12 hours in vats and then barrels (50% of which are new for the grands crus and the premiers crus, 30% for the villages and 10% for the Bourgogne Hautes-côtes-de-nuits). The élevage lasts 15 to 18 months, with the barrels (mostly Tonnelerie Rousseau) being topped up once a week and racked two or three times during the entire period of élevage.

Important to note that their holding of Clos Vougeot is located at the top of the vineyard and this wine has exceptional depth and intensity and appears closer in style to Musigny to which it almost adjoins (and better than many Musignys) so do not pass this by. The 2019 vintage here is very small in quantity with higher vineyards being most affected with very small yields. Our quantities are half the quantity we have been able to buy in previous vintages. For those who love the best wines of Chambolle-Musigny these should not be missed.

2020 Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits blanc “La Poirelotte”
From a tiny parcel of vines 0.71 ha is planted to Chardonnay in the chalkiest most limestone soils in this vineyard located higher above Chambolle village vineyards. Here the spice from the Allier oak marries well with the fine nervy citric fruit. This shows attractive ripe orchard fruits on the aromas and palate and is still taught and crisp with a precise saline finish. Youthful and vibrant this wine will continue to unfurl for the next 5 years or more. A serious example showing excellent depth and character from this cool site high above Chambolle.

2020 Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits rouge “La Poirelotte”
From a parcel of vines planted from 1970s through to 2000 located higher above Chambolle village vineyards. No new oak is used for this wine. Vibrant lifted perfume and spicy brambley fruit with very fine tannins and a long fresh finish. Very enjoyable now yet has vigour and enough depth to cellar for several years but why wait.

2020 Chambolle-Musigny
From 5 parcels of vines planted between the 1960s and 1990s with an average age of 35 years old. Chambolle Musigny gets its reputation for perfume and elegance and this is textbook Chambolle yet also with admirable intensity and generosity. Very fine tannins and flows beautifully on the palate - very harmonious and will develop and open up with 5+ yrs of ageing.

2020 Chambolle-Musigny Les Charmes 1er Cru
Just 3 barrels produced in 2019 from vines planted in the early 1980s. Just one new barrel in the mix here and quite a noteable step up again from the 1er cru blend. Les Charmes is located just below the village almost exactly half way between the 2 Grand Crus of Chambolle-Musigny - Bonnes-Mares and Musigny. Les Charmes almost joins on to 1er cru Les Amoureuses so this is always a highly ‘favoured’ 1er Cru site.

2020 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
From a superb holding of just over half a hectare of vines which was replanted in 1975 and is located in the lieu dit of Grand Maupertuis in the higher part of Clos Vougeot bordering on to Grands Echezeaux not far from Musigny. This parcel was worked en metayage by Georges Roumier from the 1950’s and was transferred to Laurent Roumier from the 1997 vintage. (Laurent Roumier also owns two other small parcels in the lower part of Clos Vougeot in the lieu-dit of Baudes Basses which is sold off to other producers.)
This is a remarkably rich deep and stylish wine that would put some notable Musigny’s to shame. Deeply perfumed with vibrant dark fruit and with wonderfully fine tannins. 50% new Rousseau barrels used and aged for up to 18 months before bottling unfined and unfiltered. This is a stunning Grand cru of real freshness and vigour that simply should not be missed. This wine show just how great this large Grand cru site can be and how spectacularly good wines from the higher parts of the vineyard can be.

2020 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Just 0.14 ha of vines planted in 1938 produce 3-4 barrels of this wine in a good year. This holding was inherited from the Georges Roumier estate and is situated in the heart of this Grand cru site with these vines located between the holdings of de Vogue and Freddie Mugnier. Shows great depth of colour with beautiful fine aromas of rose petal, all perfume and finesse, yet very deep and intense on the palate with remarkable persistence and power. A stunning Grand cru of real breed that shows remarkable intensity and persistence balanced with finesse and restraint. This will age and evolve effortlessly for decades in a very cool cellar. This wine sits comfortably among the top Grand cru’s and shows how great the top Chambolle sites can be. No more than 900 bottles or maximum 3 barrels produced in a good vintage.

2018 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru - SOLD OUT
Made from a blend of 3 tiny parcels of 1er cru vineyards all located just below the village not far from Bonnes Mares. The 3 tiny holdings make a total of just 3 or 4 barrels of wine so not always enough to bottle on their own. This shows a marked step up in intensity from the village wine both aromatically and in depth and presence on the palate. Good intensity and dimension on the palate yet all with notable perfume and finesse.