Wine By Region Europe France Burgundy Côte de Nuits Gevrey-Chambertin  Mazoyères-Chambertin

Mazoyères-Chambertin is a Grand Cru vineyard lying within the village of Gevrey-Chambertin. It lies directly to the south of Charmes-Chambertin, an area with which it shares an important relationship. The vineyards are allowed to cross-label, and as a result of Charmes' higher reputation most of the producers label their wines this way. As a result, the Mazoyères name has become obscure, and less than 1,000 cases of wine a year are now made under this name. It is estimated that only 10% of Mazoyères-produced wines are actually labeled under that appellation in bottle. Despite this, the few wines produced here are generally of a very high quality.

The surprising rule allowing the Charmes and Mazoyères designations to be interchangeable was incorporated along with the AOC rules of 1937.

Since the Mazoyères vineyard has just as much of the actual Charmes name as Charmes-Chambertin's own vineyard does, there is no reason to assume that the quality would be any lower. Well-layered marl, clay, and limestone have high concentration and combine with the excellent weather to make this flat vineyard's wines anything but flat. While these appellations are still far behind Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, Mazoyères' own distinction has almost entirely wines that come from excellent soil.

• Pinot Noir: Mazoyères-Chambertin's Pinots are mostly known to the world through flamboyant and perfumed but powerfully concentrated Charmes-Chambertin. Almost definitely, all Mazoyères wines are 100% Pinot Noir, and do not use the Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris blending option. The wines actually labeled under the appellation tend to be fairly masculine and lack flamboyancy. However, they have sweet fruit and a silky texture to brighten up the wine despite the tannic reserves that make it initially closed. Most wines have notes of very dark fruit and spice but can also show Chambertin-like game flavors. Age the wines for 10-20 years; only the most atypical in style will be accessible early on.

The Mazoyères appellation is so small that there are only two great producers with good availability outside France.

• Domaine Dugat Py: This cuvée is in a completely different style from both Perrot Minot cuvées. These wines have a silky texture but other than that are all power, with very deep color and deep, dark flavors as well. Heavily ripe flavors of black fruits, minerals, and sometimes smoky game are the initially apparent notes, but more refined notions of flowers and herb can manifest themselves within a few years. An amazingly complex, deep style, whose power should fade in 10-20 years, but even then it will still be masculine. Prices of $500-$600 are lofty.
• Domaine Perrot Minot: The most common and available wine here is the regular cuvée. Heavily structured, like Dugat Py's Mazoyères, it still manages to be sweet and elegant. Dark fruit flavors are similarly weighty, but there's a brighter note of pepper or licorice early on that keeps the wine fresh. But the old-vine example has less concentration and seems weightless, with more vibrant spicy notions and less actual sweetness. Aging is necessary with the first and recommended with the second.

See Charmes-Chambertin for the appellation that most of these wines are labeled under. Other than Charmes, the Mazoyères appellation has no relations with any other regions nor subregions.