Richebourg 1999 75cl

The Grivots have been part of the Burgundian landscape for quite a few generations. The current Grivot at the domaine is Etienne who took over from his father, Jean, in the early 1980s. One of the more transformational domaines, it could be said that they have had at least four different styles in the past three decades. Jean was known for an elegant style which maybe did not show all the vintage's potential in lesser years. In the 1980s after Etienne took over, he was interested in understanding the potential of his vines deeply and hired controversial oenologist, Guy Accad, who encouraged maximum extraction in color, fruit and tannin. Guy stayed until 1992 as Etienne was ready to move onto other things, and began producing wines that could be considered a bit more generous than his Accad phase. Since the 2005 vintage, he has moved on again, preferring to focus on wines that are incredibly pure, poised and as he says, 'with lots of energy' while retaining admirable density. His vineyard holdings are nothing short of impressive with 3 Grand Crus (including Richebourg) and 9 Premier Crus - 6 from Vosne, plus various village wines. As his aim is to never stop improving, his domaine is one to continue to watch.