2016 Gerard Raphet Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru 750 ml

Two Grands Crus in One Unforgettable Bottle

When you have some of the best land in Burgundy, you really don’t have to prove your worth in the winery—just let the terroir do the talking. Gerard Raphet and his haunting wines keep on proving that vintage after vintage.

He is the fourth generation of his family to work this fabled land, and the wines they craft from it—made using their age-old family methods, not ones they were taught in enology school: this is a family of the earth, through and through—are as pure and precise as you’ll find in the entire Cote de Nuits.

This one, the 2016 Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru, actually utilizes some fruit from the adjacent Mazoyères Grand Cru, which is legally allowed to be labeled either Charmes or Mazoyères. Its inclusion in this bottling lends the wine an added layer of complexity that frankly stunned us when we first tasted it. If Gerard Raphet typically finds notable warmth and ripeness in his Charmes Chambertin, then the addition of the fruit from Mazoyères beautifully complicated it even further.

The result is a Pinot Noir that brings together red berry fruit with violets and licorice, all of it cut through with the natural spice that the ancient land imparts—the wine only saw 15% new oak, the better to allow its inherent character to shine through unobscured. It gains volume in the decanter, and promises to continue evolving easily through 2035. At the best price in the nation on the first bottle, this unforgettable Grand Cru will earn its pride of place in any cellar.