2015 Domaine Marc Roy, Gevrey-Chambertin "Vieilles Vignes" - Bourgogne - 3 Bottle (0.75L)

Marc Roy is one of the smaller domaines in Gevrey-Chambertin. With just four hectares of vines Alexandrine Roy and her parents produce three different cuvées of village Gevrey-Chambertin as well as a small amount of the rare white Marsannay, Les Champs Perdrix. The Gevrey-Chambertin, Vieilles Vignes, is our main cuvée, explains Alexandrine Roy. It's a selection of the oldest vines we have, which is easy since the main part of the estate is old vines anyway. The annual production is around 9000 bottles. Alexandrine Roy is the fourth generation at the domaine. It was her great grandfather, Victor Roy, who originally founded the domaine. Back then it was even smaller. Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy. – He came from an old family of winegrowers, says Alexandrine Roy. It was just that he didn't have much vines. He lived near Marsannay. It was with my grandfather André that the domain really started to grow. As most of his generation he was selling mainly to the négociants. Then in 1982 came the big change, when Alexandrine's father, Marc Roy, decided to start bottling the whole production. With a total output of 20000 bottles a year Domaine Marc Roy today exports to the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Alexandrine Roy at Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy. – It's another relationship between you and your vineyards when you are in charge of everything from vine to bottle, says Alexandrine Roy. Instead of producing grapes, you are producing fine wines that will be a reflection of your philosophy and your ideas. After working in Australia and New Zeeland, and doing the 2002 harvest in Bandol, Alexandrine Roy returned to Gevrey-Chambertin in 2003 to work full-time with her parents. She points out that she has pretty much the same philosophy as her father; something that is necessary if you are going to work closely together. – Maybe I have added more attention to detail, she says. I am a woman, so I am very focused on details. My father does a great job and I am still working with him. But I am more focused on tiny things that make a difference. For example, I have been pushing him to start ploughing the vines again, like he used to do years ago. Also, I have been influencing the yields at the domaine. My father was already doing some green harvesting, but I convinced him to remove more shoots on the vines in the spring, just leaving six or seven. This gives a good aeration of the grapes and it also limits the number of grape bunches. All the Gevrey-Chambertin of Domaine Marc Roy is village vines. The Clos Prieur is bottled separately, while the other climats – En Jouise, Carougeot, Les Murots, Les Crais, Vignes Belles, Les Seuvrées and La Justice – go into the Cuvée Alexandrine and the Vieilles Vignes. Alexandrine Roy is not giving away which parcels that go into the cuvée that bears her name. – The Gevrey-Chambertin, Clos Prieur, is a specific parcel located near the grands crus that produces a very spicy wine, very complex and full-bodied and elegant at the same time. Even in its youth it is a very charming wine. Gevrey-Chambertin, Vieilles Vignes from Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy. When Alexandrine Roy returned to the domaine full-time she set out to change this. She felt that a very good wine was being neglected. With a lot of hard work and a lot of explaining she pulled it off in the end. Today the Marsannay, Les Champs Perdrix sells without any problems. – The terroir is amazing for this wine, she says. It's a steep hill, with a lot of stones. The grapes benefit from a very mineral terroir. They have a good acidity level when we pick them. – This wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation. We make it in stainless steel tanks, and then we transfer the wine, while it is still fermenting, to oak barrels. 20 percent of the oak is new. Then there is a steering of the lees. The result is amazing. – For the 2000 vintage we had a very strong acidity in this wine. I mean, it was completely undrinkable during the first year, so we decided to leave it. Two years ago we tried it again, and wow, it was amazing. We then sold all the bottles in one year. Since 2007 Alexandrine Roy is also contributing winemaker at Phelps Creek Vineyards in Oregon. Bob Morus, owner of Phelps Creek Vineyards, asked if she would be interested in doing a special cuvée for him. – I loved the idea, she says. The aim was to produce something different from what the regular winemaker over there does, using my Burgundian techniques. – It worked and my cuvée turned out to be very different from the cuvée of their own winemaker. His cuvée had more of expressive fruit, explosive fruit, very aromatic. Very charming in the mouth, but short at the end, whereas mine was a bit discreet, a bit closed, but that developed after some aeration, like a Burgundy wine, and it lasted very long.