Mathilde Grivot said that harvesting here began on 12 September. There was a green harvest three weeks prior to the harvest. The start date was later than many to allow for ripening of tannins; the sugars remained constant during this time, and the acidities good.
Grivot has been using increasingly less new oak. For 2017, the Bourgogne has 20% new oak, the village and premiers crus 25-30% new oak, and the grands crus 30-35%.
Malo-lactic fermentations began in February and finished in May, with the last ones in June and July. This is relatively early for Grivot, where the cellar is quite cold and over the years I’ve encountered wines still in malo more than 13-14 months after harvest.
2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
This wine shows strawberry and other red fruits and is pure, light, and long. (86-88)
Vosne-Romanée
The village Vosne has a smooth texture with red fruits, and good concentration in a medium-weight body. (87-89)
2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Charmois
Grivot’s Nuits, Charmois shows more structure and crispness than the Vosne, as is to be expected because of the cold climate of this vineyard. There is juiciness here to the dark fruits. (87-89)
2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Lavières
Moving to the northern border of Nuits, the Nuits, Lavières has finesse to go with dark fruits, smokiness, juiciness, and lightness on the palate. (88-91)
2017 Chambolle-Musigny Combe d’Orveaux
The Chambolle, Combe d’Orveaux shows dark cherry fruit in a body that is smooth, round, and sensual. There’s more concentration here than in any of the previous wines. (89-91)
2017 Vosne-Romanée Bossières
This wine voluptuous and sensual with fresh dark fruits and some minerality. Quite old vines here. (89-91)
2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Chaumes
Moving to the premiers crus, the Vosne-Chaumes has spicy dark fruit aromas and flavors, good sensuality, a medium-weight body, and round tannins. (91-93)
2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Rouges
Rouges is not considered one of the top Vosne premiers crus, but I always find that Grivot makes a very pretty rendition. The wine is light, pure, and spicy with good density to its red fruits, good concentration and intensity, and some minerality. (91-93)
2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières
The Nuits-Roncières is medium-weight with juicy dark berry and dark plum fruit, minerality, and round tannins. Very pleasing. (91-94)
2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers
The Nuits-Pruliers has greater density and firmness than the Roncières. The dark fruits show freshness and some gingerbread spiciness. (92-95)
2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots
Last of the Nuits, the Boudots has spicy, juicy red fruits with intensity and length in the medium-weight mouth. A very fine wine, as usual. (93-95)
2017 Vosne-Romnée 1er Cru Aux Brulées
Grivot’s Vosne-Brulées is mineral with red fruits. The wine has lightness on the palate and firmness of texture with good length. (92-95)
2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts
The Vosne-Beaux Monts is light, pure, and flowing with mineral fruit that is mostly dark. The wine shows some structure, but not as much as the Brulées. (92-95)
2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Suchots
In contrast to the Brulées and Beaux Monts, the Vosne-Suchots is fleshy. It has dark fruits with Suchots truffliness and more weight and concentration than the Beaux Monts or Brulées, also. Outstanding potential for aging here. (93-96)
2017 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Reignots
Finishing of this dazzling selection of premiers crus is the Vosne-Reignots. The vineyard is just above La Romanée, and the vines average 70-75 years of age. Alas, this is a small parcel, and so there are only 1-1/2 barrels (about 450 bottles) of the wine. It shows great complexity and excellent concentration to its red and dark fruits. Outstanding length here. It is a complete wine. (94-96)
2017 Clos-Vougeot
Mathilde points out that the part of Grivot’s Clos-Vougeot located in the bottom third of the vineyard is advantaged by hot years because of the better water retention. The wine is round, complete, and concentrated with a smooth texture and fresh, spicy dark fruits. It is a candidate for best Clos-Vougeot I tasted from 2017. (94-97)
2017 Echézeaux
The Echézeaux is mineral and sensual with crystalline dark fruit, a medium-weight body, good concentration, and notable energy. There are quality tannins to support aging, too. (95-97)
2017 Richebourg
Last is the magnificent Richebourg. The wine is intense with juicy dark plum fruit, minerality, and precision. There’s great potential here, but this wine will need plenty of time to come around. It is a very fine expression of Richebourg terroir. (95-98)