Description
This adjoins the 1er Cru vineyard of the same name, first planted by monks from the Abbey of Cluny. Fred is so pleased with the return to normal volumes (who isn’t?), but also the style of Clos Prieur. Always made for drinking young the first feel is more of ripe, redcurrant, raspberry and pomegranate fruits, a hint of sweetness and not such dominant acidity. There’s plenty of volume on the palate resulting in a typically uplifting Gevrey that will drink well in youth. A mouthful of joy. 2025 to 2029
Producer Information: Frederic Esmonin
The name Esmonin is synonymous with the village of Gevrey-Chambertin (Sylvie Esmonin is a cousin). Father and son, André and Frederic, established their tiny property primarily clustered in Gevrey-Chambertin. These wonderful vineyards are still managed by André, who was bottling quality reds here at les Estournelles long before the fashion for domaine bottled burgundy took off. The vines are managed, not always with the aim of reducing yield to produce soupy concentration, but to achieve a balance between expression and concentration; a good deal of finesse and some fat to the wines. Vine age exceeds 40 years in some parcels, including their Grand Cru sites in Ruchottes-Chambertin and Mazy-Chambertin.
André is, in his modest way, one of most knowledgeable of Nuits vignerons. He remembers details of vintages back to the 1950s and planted vines with his father in the 1940s. He is not a big fan of intervention, especially green harvesting, as he believes that ‘more often than not, it is an attempt to correct mistakes that have been made in the pruning and longer term management of vineyards’.