The word most regularly deployed to describe Domaine Tortochot is ‘traditional.’ Whether it’s here or elsewhere, you likely hear that word thrown around a lot, and I wonder if we take for granted that everyone knows what it means. For us, anyway, ‘traditional’ wines are less likely to be buffed up with expensive new oak or styled in a more heavily extracted, forwardly fruity, drink-young style.
Traditional styles feel more pre-technological and of the earth, and perhaps more reflective of vintage and place as a result. Obviously, there are extremes: some experienced tasters mistake dirty winemaking for terroir, while at the other end of the spectrum, some ‘modern’ styles are so crafted and polished it’s hard to connect them with their place of origin. I’ll take a perfectly ripe, lavishly oaked red Burgundy over a flawed, excessively rustic red Burgundy any day, but the real magic of these wines is when I feel like I’m eating a handful of perfectly ripe cherries while hiking through the forest. Great traditional Gevrey-Chambertin, like today’s old-vine stunner from Domaine Tortochot, summons this woodsy magic better than perhaps any other appellation in the Côte d’Or. We reach for Gevrey when we want a powerful, more dark-toned, more ‘masculine’ expression of Pinot Noir, and this one—crafted by a woman, incidentally—delivers on that promise. Infused with extra power, depth and persistence in the 2015 vintage, Tortochot’s “Champerrier” isn’t just delicious, but transporting. Not that you needed a reminder, but this wine hammers home the notion that yes, you can taste a place. This wine is a sure bet, and those carefully stocking a cellar should load up.