Philippe Leclerc’s Gevrey-Chambertin 2003: Genius in One of the World’s Greatest
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Looking down from the upper slope (premier cru) vineyards
It is Sunday – what is still in the warehouse time. Time to look again at the older, rare, but overlooked stock that needs a home. Today it is a truly world class Burgundy from Gevrey Chambertin and the unique 2003 vintage.
“The 2003s from the Cote de Nuits offer more exceptional wines than any vintage since 1990 – the aromatic richness of the finest 2003s is awe-inspiring, as are their textures, fruit density and lengthy finishes.” -Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
“The 2003 red Burgundies are exceptional young Pinot Noirs. Marked by the extreme heat and dryness of the vintage, they exude ripeness, concentration and power. The best bottles will be legendary and will deserve a place in collectors’ cellars.” -Wine Spectator
I got hooked on Burgundies back in the eighties. It didn’t happen over night. I played the Burgundy field for years before I found “my” Burgundy. Maybe it was the “Bordeaux Factor” that kept me at a distance. You see, I was coming off a decade of drinking those big, muscular Bordeaux and kept running into the “girly” side of Burgundy – often described as elegant, but for me, “elegant” seemed suspiciously delicate and lean and on the sheer side.
I like powerful, nuanced wines. Fortunately, before giving up on this mysterious thing called great red Burgundy, I found Philippe Leclerc. Philippe makes Gevrey-Chambertin, which is the northernmost major winemaking appellation of the Cote d’Or. As you probably know, the Cote d’Or is that blessed strip of sloping, pebbly, chalky, limestone vineyards that produces miniscule quantities of some of the finest wine in the world.
Philippe makes some of the finest Gevrey-Chambertin – no, I’ll broaden the universe and say Burgundy – you will ever put in your glass. Philippe grew up surrounded by vines. His family has owned land in Gevrey-Chambertin for about a hundred years. Philippe started learning about winemaking at an early age – he left school at 13, to work in the vineyard with his father. He produced his first vintage in 1979.
Philippe has never fit the Cote de Nuits mold with its conservative uniform of navy blazer, shirt and tie (Cote de Nuits is the northern part of the Cote d’Or and the Cote de Beaune is the southern part). Philippe has always been the wild man – choosing to wear tight leather pants, something resembling the “puffy shirt” from Seinfeld, and topping it all off with an L.A. Lakers bomber jacket. That rebellious quality alone was enough to get me interested, but add to it that Philippe looks exactly like Bruce Springsteen and the decision to import was a done deal as far as I was concerned.
All of this is my way of saying Philippe is his own man. He is iconoclastic in his winemaking: always harvesting after everyone else, never fining or filtering, long cuvaison, charring his barrels. His wines are substantial, darkly colored, earthy with aggressive fruit. They are muscular and meaty. They are built to last.
Philippe Leclerc’s Combe aux Moines is a premier cru. He uses new oak and ages in cask for two years before it is bottled. This vineyard (along with Clos Saint Jacques and Les Cazetiers) has the potential to make wines that are grand cru equivalents – and in the hands of Philippe Leclerc, it is a sure thing. So, for a grand cru in your glass without the expense of a grand cru, Combe aux Moines is something you should buy.
In addition to his premiers crus, Philippe makes a village classified wine that is spectacular: Gevrey-Chambertin En Champs. The grapes come from an ideally located vineyard just up the slope and a bit northeast of premier cru les Cazetiers. I had never bought it before and when I tasted it for the first time recently I nearly fell over. Fantastic!! First of all, the basic ingredients are all there: the vines average 50-years-old, the terroir is ideal (high on the hill next to one of the best premier cru vineyards, add Philippe and you have a rich, powerful, and structured wine at a great price for this level of Burgundy.
Philippe has had more than his fair share of “big scores” (very big) and stars (a constellation-full) from the wine critics. Philippe has shared the stage with the “royalty” of Bourgogne (Dujac, Jayer, Leroy, Roumier), but for Philippe it’s 100% about the wine. He hardly cares about the rankings (astonishing, but true). He is not a promoter. It all comes down to making the best wine he can – the way he wants to make it. And sometimes, that can take a lot of courage.
That is because Pinot Noir is a picky little grape which sometimes decides to ripen and other times not. It takes nerves of steel to grow Pinot Noir in Burgundy because you have to be patient and risk losing your entire crop to the rains and frost of fall in order to achieve ripeness. While most growers get scared when the rains and cool weather come in September and rush to pick hoping they can correct for ripeness in the vinfication process, Philippe is a man with the temperament to risk it all. He risks it all because that’s what it takes to make great wine.
Philippe’s 2003 premiers crus are considered the best the appellation made in that vintage. Philippe is a perfectionist; he’s always busy reaching for that next rung of quality, never completely satisfied with his efforts. But I know he is much, much too hard on himself; his red wines come as close to perfection as any I’ve ever had in Burgundy. Cynthia Hurley