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Ruchottes-Chambertin


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Located in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin, the Ruchottes-Chambertin appellation is, with the exception of Griotte-Chambertin, the smallest of Gevrey's Grands Crus. Only 7.4 acres are used for Ruchottes-labeled wine, which makes for just over 1,000 cases per year produced. Bordered by Mazis-Chambertin and Gevrey-Chambertin's Premier Cru vineyards, the Ruchottes vineyard can often make surprisingly high-quality wines.

Usually, small Grand Cru vineyards in Burgundy are the site of much ado and clamor, with each low-production wine produced being snapped up for four figures or more. But Ruchottes is one of the unlucky few that has not attracted much attention, making its wines relatively well-priced despite the very low production numbers.

History

This satellite vineyard was officially delineated as such in 1937. Despite its size, it was not "merged" into any other vineyard, and as a result the wine from the appellation is fairly original.

Climate and Viticulture

The vineyard is located high on the hillside of the hill that houses all of Gevrey-Chambertin's Grands Crus. It is above Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, which is usually a quality advantage in other places, but in this case the most layered soil of marl, clay and limestone is to be found lower on the hill. The Ruchottes appellation does, however, have excellently concentrated soil, and is capable of producing the occasional cuvée that rivals the big 2 in quality.

Grape Varieties

Major Producers

The number of producers in Ruchottes-Chambertin is not very high, thanks to the small size of the appellation. But there are several producers that compete, and this and the vineyard's mediocre reputation make prices much lower than Chambertin and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze, especially with négociant-bottled wines. Many wines are "values" at $100 or less. We have singled out three leading producers.

Subregions

There are no intriguing labeling practices other than Domaine Armand Rousseau's labeling of their "Clos des Ruchottes" as a monopole. This is effectively a lieu-dit. Other than that, most wines will be labeled Ruchottes-Chambertin alone.