Ideally situated in Burgundy’s Côte de Nuits, the village of Gevrey-Chambertin has been producing widely sought-after wines for almost 1400 years. Of the village’s Premier Cru vineyards, few are more prized than Lavaux Saint-Jacques. Lavaux is just one of those plots that seems preternaturally capable of producing amazing wines almost every year. This is especially true in the hands of a top estate like Harmand-Geoffroy; one of my absolute favorite growers in Gevrey, Harmand-Geoffroy’s wines are nothing short of incredible. Since 2009, the Domaine has been on a roll, making cleaner and more polished wines than ever before. Today we are featuring a perfectly cellared example from the generously long and warm 2009 vintage; as an added bonus, we are pricing this wine as it was upon release three years ago. So while the current 2011 and 2012 vintages are 25% higher in cost, and not yet ready to drink, you can enjoy this delicious and maturing bottle for a significantly lower price today.

English writer Remington Norman, one of the world’s leading authorities on Burgundy, writes in his defining text, The Great Domaines of Burgundy, “The Harmands’ touch is clearly mastery. Their wines are all too attractive young, but age well.” I could not agree more, but will perhaps go one step further in saying that Harmand-Geoffroy has begun to establish a reputation in my own cellar for bottling some of my favorite wines in Gevrey-Chambertin. I often find myself reaching for the estate’s bottles when I have dinner guests and that is always a good sign. I have been keeping a close eye on the estate for the last few years and the wines only seem to be getting better with each vintage.

The Harmand-Geoffroy domaine is currently overseen by Philippe Harmand and his father, Gerard. In recent years, the Harmands have focused their resources on improving consistency at their property. In 1998, the family built a new and more modern winery, which coincided with a shift toward cleaner, less rustic wines. The property is organically farmed without chemical fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides, which the family feels interrupt the natural life cycles of the vineyard. Today’s wine comes from Philippe and Gerard’s small .7-hectare holding in the Premier Cru of Lavaux Saint-Jacques. The Harmand’s vines in this parcel were planted between 45 and 95 years ago, making their vines some of the oldest in the vineyard. Soil here is rugged limestone and marl that, when combined with the advanced vine age, produces wines of impressive concentration and depth. Consequently, Harmand-Geoffroy is bottling some of the meatiest and most masculine wines in Gevrey, according to my palate. Grapes for this bottling are hand-harvested and de-stemmed before undergoing a five-day cold soak. Fermentation lasts 2-3 weeks before the wine is racked into a mix of mostly neutral small barrels along with a few new barrels. The wine rests for a year and a half until bottling without fining or filtration. The entire process lasts 3.5 years, culminating in the release of a mere 75 cases for the US each autumn. Needless to say, this is a very rare and limited wine.