Domaine Trapet Père et Fils Gevrey Chambertin ‘Cuvée 1859’ 2021

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

2019 was the first vintage of the Cuvée 1859, which comes from 50-year-old vines in the parcel of Derée Champérier in Brochon in the northern part of Gevrey. Only 250 cases produced.

About Domaine Trapet Père et Fils

Trapet Père et Fils is a seventh generation Gevrey-Chambertin estate and one of the largest holders of Chambertin (1.9 hectares). Known throughout much of its history as Domaine Louis Trapet, it was renamed in 1993 when the estate’s vineyard holdings were divided, with half of the holdings going to Domaine Rossignol-Trapet. The other half of the estate was renamed Domaine Trapet Père et Fils and is run by Jean-Louis Trapet.

Jean-Louis is regarded as one of the pioneers of natural viticulture in the region, and continues to lead the way in biodynamic farming (along with pals Frederic Lafarge, Dominique Lafon, Lalou Bize Leroy and others). As of 2009 the entire estate is demeter-certified.

The estate is known for its three great Grand Crus, though the quality at Domaine Trapet Père et Fils is simply outstanding up and down their hierarchy.

The domaine also owns parcels in three top premier crus: Clos Prieur, Les Corbeaux and Petite Chapelle. The Clos Prieur and Petite Chapelle plots were some of the the first vines purchased by the family in the late 19th century, followed by Petite Chapelle in 1877, and Clos Prieur in 1893. The Les Corbeaux parcel was purchased much more recently. Because these plots are relatively small, vintages with tiny yields are sometimes combined to make a wine named “Cuvee Capita 1er Cru”.

Trapet’s outstanding grand crus (Latricières-Chambertin, Chapelle-Chambertin and Chambertin) are crafted to really highlight their underlying terroirs. Though they may not be as ‘big’ or powerfully constructed as some of their other more flashy neighbors in Gevrey-Chambertin, they are in the top echelon in terms of aromatics, flavor complexity, expression of terroir, and aging potential.

Like the man himself, there is an elegance, grace and purity to the wines that is haunting and rare in a village where power dominates. All in all, Domaine Trapet Père et Fils is at the top of their game, with Jean-Louis crafting wines that are as stunning as any in the great history of this long-respected Gevrey superstar.

Check out Levi Dalton’s interview with Jean-Louis Trapet on the I’ll Drink To That! podcast.
Levi’s passion and knowledge of wine is immense. He is largely self funded. If you enjoy his podcasts please consider sharing a few coins with him here.

The 2021 Vintage at Domaine Trapet Père et Fils

Jean-Louis Trapet’s sons, Louis and Pierre, have now largely taken over the day-to-day operations though he attended the tasting that was run by Louis. The sons are slowly converting the domaine to the paisseux, or staked vine system, of trellising using the same 12,500 vine planting density they use currently. This system was used for centuries before phylloxera and it uses one tall post per vine.

They have also decided to vinify the parcels of Corbeaux, Combottes and En Ergot individually while eliminating the cuvée Capita. With respect to 2021, they briefly observed that the “growing season was seriously challenging between the terrible damage done by the frost, followed by severe disease pressure and even hail in Gevrey, though the latter didn’t do too much damage, at least not to our vines. We picked from the 24th to the 29th of September and brought in yields that were varied but basically off between 50 and 70%. Potential alcohols ranged from 12.3 and 12.5% and we chaptalized around .5 to .8% using between 15 and 60% whole clusters except for the Combottes which was 100%. Stylistically, we would compare the 2021s to our
2001s.”

Allen Meadows, Burghound

I’ve written before about the ongoing renaissance at this Gevrey-Chambertin benchmark. Energized by the increasing involvement of his sons, Pierre and Louis, Jean-Louis Trapet has initiated a viticultural revolution: in 2020, fully seven hectares of the domaine’s holdings were converted both to échalas and to higher trellising stakes and wires, depending on the steepness of the slope. Since then, changes have been rolled out in other parcels too. And given the extent of Trapet’s holdings in prime climats, that means that the walk from Morey-Saint-Denis to Gevrey-Chambertin suddenly looks rather different. In the cuverie, winemaking continues to be very classical, with important percentages of whole clusters. 

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Where in the World is Domaine Trapet Père et Fils

Domaine Trapet Père et Fils is located in Gevrey-Chambertin, an appellation of the Cote de Nuits celebrated for its Pinot Noirs. Learn more about this impressive region with our Wine Bites article: Getting Your Head Around Burgundy Part 9.1