Jean-Louis Trapet said that harvesting began on 5-6 September and evidently went very rapidly as he also said that he finished just before the rains (which came only a few days later). Most of the malolactic fermentations finished in May, but for one wine, it was still continuing when I visited in early November 2016. Usually he uses about 30-40% whole clusters, but in 2015 he used 70% (and for the the Gevrey-Chambertin “Capita"and Chambertin, 100%).
The estate is organic and biodynamic.
These are astonishing wines, and as in 2005, the Chambertin is a candidate for the greatest wine that I tasted from the vintage. They are worth a special effort to seek out.
2015 Bourgogne Chardonnay
Here is yet another of the surprising white wines from the 2015 vintage. The nose is floral, especially with peach blossoms. The moth is light and elegant, but also intense with good acidity and balance, also with freshness and balance. 88(+)/A
2015 Marsannay (white)
We follow the Bourgogne blanc with this excellent white Marsannay. The nose here is broader than that of the Bourgogne with some honeysuckle. The mouth shows good acidity and attractive calmness to go with length, acidity, and finesse. There is some Pinot Blanc and a little Aligoté in this wine. 90/A
2015 Bourgogne-Passetoutgrains À Minima
This mixture of Pinot Noir and Gamay is from vines planted in 1965 and sees no sulphur. The nose shows cassis leaf aromas. The mouth has intense cassis fruit and is light, elegant, fresh, and pure. 86/B+
2015 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Here is another outstanding Bourgogne from the vintage. The wine is pure, intense, and focused with dark fruit and great freshness. 90/A
2015 Marsannay
As of now, Marsannay has no premier cru vineyard, but several have been proposed to the authorities. One of them, Grasses Têtes, makes up half of this wine. The nose features cassis and blueberry aromas. The mouth is ample but fresh with pure blueberry flavors and excellent concentration and balance. (89-93)
2015 Gevrey-Chambertin
This wine shows an absurdly high level of quality for a village wine. It is dense with plenty of concentration and tannin a wine that will take substantial aging. But it shows great depth to its dark fruit, an extremely smooth texture, and great freshness. (92-95)
2015 Gevrey-Chambertin Ostrea
The Ostrea is a cuvée from vineyards that have limestone formed by shellfish deposits. Amazingly, it is even better than the regular Gevrey. This wine still had about 10% malolactic fermentation to finish when I tasted it, but as I remarked to Jean-Louis, because of the extremely low levels of malic acidity in the vintage, that meant 10% of practically nothing. The wine is deep, pure, and linear in its development in the mouth and shows great intensity. (93-96)
2015 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle
Although the alcohol here is high (above 14º), the wine is balanced and the alcohol is not noticeable. The wine is pure, smooth, and chiseled with dark fruits and outstanding energy, length, and, again, balance. (93-96)
2015 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Prieur
The Clos Prieur has roundness with fruit that is dark fruit that is very close to plums, spices, and concentration. The proximity to Mazis-Chambertin is quite evident. (93-96)
2015 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Capita
The amazing Capita is a blend of grapes from three premier cru sites where Trapet’s holdings are not large enough to permit separate cuvées: Aux Combottes, Les Corbeaux, and En Ergot. As mentioned above, this wine is entirely from whole clusters. The wine is dense and pure with fabulous concentration and freshness for its dark fruits. This is at grand cru, and indeed very good grand cru level. (94-97)
2015 Chapelle Chambertin
The Chapelle-Chambertin shows deep, fine, stony, dark fruit aromas. The mouth has finesse, energy, a smooth texture, dark fruit, amazing purity, precision, and tension. It is everything a Chapelle-Chambertin should be. (95-98)
2015 Latricières-Chambertin
Trapet’s Latricières-Chambertin shows depth, tension, and ripe dark fruits with great concentration. (94-98)
2015 Chambertin
Last, the magnificent Chambertin. This wine is still undeveloped, but it shows great minerality, length, and amazing freshness and energy along with overall calm and length. (96-99)