Domaine Roty

Appellation

Bourgogne Côte d'Or

Grapes

Mostly Pinot Blanc — about 80% in recent vintages — with Chardonnay

Vines

Two parcels, one in Gevrey-Chambertin and one in Marsannay

The Pinot Blanc here was not an accident: Jean-François Coche-Dury suggested to Pierre-Jean's father that a little more core and fat could come from the grape, and the domaine has planted it ever since. Morris finds the whites want 18 months to two years in bottle before they open.

Appellation

Bourgogne Côte d'Or

Vines

Two Marsannay parcels, once classified for Marsannay rosé, now declassified here

Two parcels in Marsannay that used to go into the rosé are declassified into this red, which is the domaine's entry point. Roty does not make an easy Bourgogne: even at this level the fruit is dark and the structure firm. In 2023 these are, in Jasper Morris's words, deep, dense, dark-coloured wines with considerable structure — some show the sunshine of the year more than is ideal, others have the balance to repay a long cellar.

Appellation

Bourgogne Côte d'Or

Vines

All from the bottom of Gevrey-Chambertin

The second Bourgogne, all from the foot of Gevrey-Chambertin, and the more serious of the two: deeper on the nose, more breadth in the mouth. It is a wine for the cellar rather than for the first year.

Appellation

Marsannay (village), Côte de Nuits

Vines

An assembly of village parcels, six of them candidates for premier cru

Domain in Marsannay

8.5 hectares of village vines

The village Marsannay is the blend across Roty's 8.5 hectares in the commune, six of whose parcels are among those the growers put forward for premier cru status. In 2023 these are, in Jasper Morris's words, deep, dense, dark-coloured wines with considerable structure — some show the sunshine of the year more than is ideal, others have the balance to repay a long cellar.

Appellation

Marsannay (village), Côte de Nuits

Lieu-dit

Les Ouzeloy, Marsannay-la-Côte — 5.3 hectares in all, labelled by Roty and Bouvier

Position

A continuation of Les Longeroies, on the flatter ground below the combe

Vines

Old vines — reports put them between 60 and 90 years, in sandy soil

Note

Left out of the growers' proposed premier cru list

Ouzeloy sits where the slope flattens out, below the cold combe that cuts into the hill above Longeroies. The wines read as generous, forward Marsannay rather than the tighter structure of the higher lieux-dits. Roty's parcel is old vines in sandy soil, and 2023 gave ripe dark fruit — plum, black raspberry, violet — with a touch of new oak and modest alcohol (Vinous puts the vintage around 13°), fine tannins and bright acidity on the finish.

Appellation

Marsannay (village), Côte de Nuits

Lieu-dit

Les Boivin, in the heart of the appellation

Note

One of the proposed premier crus

Boivin comes from the middle of the vignoble, the part of Marsannay the growers argue is closest in character to the rest of the Côte de Nuits. Morris finds a little more animal and graphite here than in the other Marsannays, with real scale. In 2023 these are, in Jasper Morris's words, deep, dense, dark-coloured wines with considerable structure — some show the sunshine of the year more than is ideal, others have the balance to repay a long cellar.

Appellation

Marsannay (village), Côte de Nuits

Lieu-dit

Champs Saint-Étienne — one of the oldest-worked sites in the village, replanted by nuns in the 1600s

Note

Not a monopole, but Roty is the only producer to put the climat on the label

The historical heart of the village: the nuns of Marsannay replanted this slope in the 1600s, and Roty is the only grower to name it on a label. The wine is usually the most serious of the Marsannays after Ouzeloy, with a smoky, spicy oak signature when young.

Appellation

Côte de Nuits Villages

Lieu-dit

La Croix Violette, in Brochon

Parcel size

8 ouvrées (about 0.34 hectares) of old vines

Note

Bottled under its own name since the 2022 vintage

A relatively new label: the Croix Violette parcel came into the estate with the 2021 vintage and has been bottled separately since 2022, in place of the old single-parcel Côte de Nuits Villages. Eight ouvrées of old vines in Brochon, just south of Gevrey.

Appellation

Marsannay (village), Côte de Nuits

Lieu-dit

Clos de Jeu, close to the heart of the appellation

Note

One of the proposed premier crus

Clos de Jeu is the smallest of the Marsannay lieux-dits Roty bottles and often the most open young — Morris calls it first-class for its fluidity and the width of its finish rather than its size.

Appellation

Gevrey-Chambertin (village), Côte de Nuits

Vines

An assembly of parcels from the middle of the commune

The village Gevrey, blended from parcels across the centre of the commune — the wine that shows the house style most plainly: dark fruit, violet, and tannin that needs time. In 2023 these are, in Jasper Morris's words, deep, dense, dark-coloured wines with considerable structure — some show the sunshine of the year more than is ideal, others have the balance to repay a long cellar.

Appellation

Gevrey-Chambertin (village), Côte de Nuits

Note

A named cuvée within the village appellation

Brunelle is softer and more fluid than the plain village Gevrey, heavily suffused with violets in Morris's description, and it drinks earlier than most of the cellar.

Appellation

Gevrey-Chambertin (village), Côte de Nuits

Position

At the foot of Charmes-Chambertin

Champs Chenys lies at the foot of Charmes-Chambertin, and the wine is usually the most complete of the village Gevreys: floral at the top, licorice and depth underneath, with real intensity for its rank.

Appellation

Gevrey-Chambertin (village), Côte de Nuits

Note

A new cuvée, first bottled in 2022

The newest wine in the cellar: a village Gevrey from the La Justice parcel, first bottled in 2022. It arrives alongside the older village cuvées rather than replacing any of them.

Appellation

Gevrey-Chambertin (village), Côte de Nuits

Position

The lower part of Clos Prieur — the 1er cru is the parcel above it

Clos Prieur Bas is the village half of the Clos Prieur slope; the premier cru is the higher parcel. Morris rates it a step above the Brunelle for its extra architecture without losing the house's fluidity.

Appellation

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru, Côte de Nuits

Position

Mid-slope, in the centre of the commune

The domaine's only premier cru, and in Morris's view an extra-good Fontenys: open, fine in texture, concentration balanced with energy. Of everything here it is the wine that most rewards the wait.

Appellation

Mazy-Chambertin Grand Cru, Côte de Nuits

Note

The most perfumed wine of the cellar

Morris calls Mazy the most perfumed wine in the cellar — not the largest nose but the most floral — and the most beautifully structured, with no hard edges. It is grand cru in the old manner: fine rather than massive.

Appellation

Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, Côte de Nuits

Vines

About 60% of the original 1881 planting survives

Note

A place of extremes — heat, cold and drought

The old-vine Charmes: roughly 60% of the 1881 planting is still there, plus replacements that are old vines in their own right. The most depth and complexity of aroma in the cellar, and built for a long life — Morris would not open a bottle before twenty years.

Appellation

Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru, Côte de Nuits

Vines

Around a century old

Note

Yields often a single barrel; a generous vintage gives barely more

A century-old parcel that in recent vintages has filled one barrel and sometimes a fraction more — one of the scarcest wines in the cellar. Subtle and less overtly floral than the Mazy, with more volume in the mouth and the same mouth-watering energy.

Appellation

Marsannay Rosé, Côte de Nuits

Vines

Old vines, over 50 years on average, from two lieux-dits

Making

All Pinot Noir, pressed directly from the grapes for the natural colour

Marsannay is the only village appellation in Burgundy with a rosé, and Roty's is a serious one: old vines, direct press, colour from the skins alone. It is fuller than most pink Burgundy and keeps longer than you would expect.