Roumier
With a view

Explaining Burgundy's regional differences can be hard, so STEPHEN BROOK talks to Christophe Roumier about vines, Vineyards and vinification.

Burgundy is about nuance, playing down mere fruitiness and power in favour of delicacy, harmony and sensuality. It rejoices in subtle distinctions between one plot of vines and a neighbouring parcel, and this makes demands on its consumers.

Not everyone can be bothered, or can afford, to learn why, say, Chambertin differs from Clos de Béze, or Musigny from Bonnes Mares. But since Burgundy is produced, marketed and priced according to its hierarchy of vineyards, it becomes necessary to understand those vineyards in order to understand the wines fully.

Easier said than done. It's astonishing how often, in response to my questions about soil types, exposures, and so forth, a grower will just scratch his head and confess, 'I really don't know'.

That's not ignorance so much as modesty. Those who snootïly remark that New World wine producers don't have a clue about soils, terroir and vineyard characteristics, should reflect that most Europeans are not much wiser. Yes, they may know that Vineyard X usually gives richer, or more rustic, or more elegant wine thanVineyard Y, but ask them why and they'll be stumped.

Christophe Roumier is a slightly built, youthful man whose easy charm can sometimes disguise his intensely serious approach to his craft. As we drove through the vineyards of Chambolle-Musigny, I began to appreciate how much he does know about his sites.

Many regard Chambolle-Musigny as quintessential Burgundy, the most delicate, subtle and refined of them all. The explanation for this is probably the high proportion of limestone in the soil. Indeed in parts of the commune there is precious little soil to start with. The vineyards are remarkably fissured too. North/south fault lines run through the commune, creating sudden drops, as though the vineyards were a series of terraces rather than slopes. This has the effect of providing excellent drainage.

He explained too how the valley, or combe, behind the village of Chambolle, breaking through the othenwise continuous slope of the Côte de Nuits, has deposited enormous quantities of stones onto the vineyards in front of it, affecting crus such as Beaux Bruns and Les Charmes. 'The combes,' he went on,'also draw in cold air, and I think this is the reason why the grands crus are found away from them. This is certainly the case with Musigny and Bonnes Mares here in Chambolle.'

Chambolle's vineyards stretch from Musigny and Amoureuses in the south, overlooking Clos de Vougeot, to Bonnes Mares in the north, a site shared with the commune of Morey St Denis. Roumier explained the difference between the two sectors and their grand crus:'I like to think it's analagous to the Côte Brune and the Côte Blonde in Côte Rôtie. Musigny and Amoureuses are Côte Blonde, giving wines of exceptional finesse.

Bonnes Mares and the other crus to the north such as Les Cras are more robust. But even Bonnes Mares is anything but uniform. There are two soil types, red and white. The white is waterretentive and far from vigorous, so the wines are floral but can be tannic. The terre rouge is of similar quality, but is more fertile and more vigorous, so its wines are more rounded with softer tannins. I usually vinify grapes from the two soils separately and then blend them.'

Roumier has four parcels of vines in Bonnes Mares, 1.45 hectares (ha) in all, but owns a mere 0.l ha in Musigny. He is not alone in thinking that Musigny's neighbouring vineyard, Les Amoureuses, is of grand cru quality, despite its premier cru status. In some vintages it can be his best wine.

The estate was founded by Georges Roumier in 1924; estate-bottling began in 1945, and over the following decades the domaine was gradually expanded.The 2.6 ha premier cru Clos de la Bussière, which lies on natter land in Morey St Denis, was purchased in 1953. Christophe's father acquired parcels in Corton-Charlemagne (0.2 ha) and Le Musigny in 1978. Although Christophe has been involved in running the domaine since 1982, he took sole control in 1990 on his father's retirement. In 1994 Christophe leased grand cru vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin: Charmes-Chambertin (0.3 ha of very old vines) and Ruchottes-Chambertin (0.5 ha); these are his personal holdings and are bottled under his own name. In addition there are substantial plots of 3.7 ha of well-placed Chambolle Villages vines, and 1.75 ha in premier cru Les Cras.

Like most other young Burgundian vignerons Christophe Roumier has given intense thought to the cultivation of his vines. 'In the early 1990s I had turned to organic viticulture, but severe mildew in 1993 made me reconsider, although that didn't mean I returned to the use of herbicides, which we abandoned here in the late 1980s. In any case, we became organic once more in 1999, as organic treatments against mildew are now available.'

As for biodynamic viticulture, he is not ready to commit himself. 'I am very impressed by what Anne-Claude Leflaive and Dominique Lafon have achieved in their vineyards using biodynamic methods. instance, the leaf-roll virus that used infect some of the Leflaive vines has now vanished. So it's clear that biodynamism can be very effective, and it seems probable that restoring the soil to health is also the best way to increase resistance to maladies. Perhaps in five years' time I will have adopted biodynamic viticulture too, but I still need more time to think about it.'

He has also given much thought to the planting of clones, which he prefers to the massal selections made from his own vines. 'New clones are coming out all the time and can be superb. Clones, after all, are simply different expressions of the same grape variety.

In the 1960s, growers wanted productive and early-maturing clones - the exact reverse of what we are looking for today. Quality derives from a long growing season and late-ripening vines that will give us phenolic maturity and the typicity of Burgundy. Now we can choose late-ripening clones. We have to be equally selective with rootstocks.'

Christophe is not keen on green-harvesting, which he sees as a correction of excessive vigour, which could derive from clones or rootstocks or fertilisation. He would rather control yields by removing buds, according to the fertility of each vine. 'In years when the flowering is perfect, even a vine pruned really short can give an excessive crop, as in 1992 and 1996, and that's when it's essential to green-harvest.'

Yields are very low at Roumier, with an average over 10 years of 29 hectolitres per ha. After harvesting, the grapes are mostly destemmed, although stems are usually retained for Musigny and Charmes-Chambertin, perhaps because of the small quantity of grapes from each vineyard. There's a cold soak before fermentation, and no cultivated yeasts are added. Vinification takes place in open-top fermenters for up to three weeks, but pigeage (forcing the cap down into the liquid) is only practiced during the turbulent part of the fermentation, as Roumier doesn't want to extract harsh tannins.

When chaptalisation is necessary, it is done gradually in order to prolong the fermentation. Christophe allows the temperature to rise as high as 34°c, then reduces it to 30° and completes the fermentation in barrel, which he believes gives the wine more glycerol and texture.

Christophe Roumier takes a conservative line on new oak, using about 20% for his Villages wine, and 35% for most of the crus. He does insist on having the staves for his barrels properly air-dried to his specifications. He is keen on belated malolactic fermentations, and in April 1999 the 1998s still had not begun this stage. Malolactic is usually completed by June, at which point he racks and adds sulphur dioxide for the first time. Filtration was abandoned in 1988, fining in 1995.

His wines are more robust, less ethereal, than many other Chambolles, but they still have the quintessential elegance of the commune. The Bonnes Mares is superbly concentrated and profound, yet there are years when it is outclassed by the exquisite Les Amoureuses. Les Cras is intense as well as elegant, while Clos de la Bussiére is more earthy and rustic. Here on the natter lands of Morey St Denis, the soil is deeper, richer and higher in clay content than in Chambolle, and it shows. Nonetheless Clos de la Bussière is delicious and consistent.

There have been splendid wines from this domaine throughout the 1990s, even in difficult years such as 1991 and 1992. The 1993s were particularly successful, but the 1994s lack some charm, although the Bonnes Mares and Amoureurses are fine. Tasting the 1994 Musigny with Christophe Roumier in the cellars, I confessed to a slight disappointment, and he agreed. Perhaps with further ageing the robust tannins and lean acidity will become more harmonious. With a production limited to 450 bottles and the Olympian expectations one brings to any sip of Musigny, any disappointment is felt keenly. But with total production restricted to a barrel and a half, there is no way to blend or select, as can be done with the larger parcels. The 1996s are truly great, from the humble but delicious Bourgogne to the brilliant Bonnes Mares, and the 1997s and 1998s look highly promising.

In 1998 Christophe Roumier found that the thick skins of his grapes resisted rain and rot surprisingly well, and selection in the vineyard weeded out any mouldy fruit. Potential alcohol was no higher than 12.2 degrees, so most lots were chaptalised by up to one degree. I tasted the wines before their malolactic fermentation, so it took a while for my palate to adjust to their acidity levels. Nonetheless the vineyard characters came through, with Les Cras full-bodied and concentrated, Amoureuses intense and elegant, Ruchottes-Chambertin infused with cherry aromas, a wine of finesse rather than power, and Musigny more supple and subtle than Bonnes Mares.

In style, the Roumier wines stand slightly apart from the other great Chambolle-Musignys, Domaine de Vogüé, Barthod, Mugnier and Drouhin: less perfumed than others in their youth but developing a pure raspberry and cherry tone with age; a touch richer, fuller-bodied, even dense; accessible young, but best given a few years in bottle, when they develop the silkiness and elegance that is a hallmark of Chambolle. Roumier places great emphasis on texture. 'For me the texture of a wine should be like a caress,' he says, and he usually achieves it, together with perfume, harmony and elegance.

Although the domaine has been making excellent wines for decades, it is under Christophe's direction that the estate has attained the highest consistency and distinction. Unlike some other top winemakers in Burgundy, Roumier seems to instinctively reject any suggestion of cultishness. Success has not gone to his head, and he remains open-minded and free of dogma. Constantly evolving and improving in both vineyard and cellar, Roumier is employing a blend of thoughtfulness, common sense and a sure, unrushed hand in the cellar, to produce wines of the highest order.