The domaine was founded in 1924 by Georges Roumier, who began domaine bottling in 1945. He was succeeded in 1957 by his son Jean-Marie and now grandson Christophe, who joined his father in 1982 and took over completely in 1992. Most of the wines are rented (en fermage) from family members although Ruchottes Chambertin is held on a share cropping deal with an external proprietor, Michel Bonnefond. The wines are seductively fruity in their youth yet with excellent ageing potential.
The grapes are sorted in the vineyard, with a table de tri at the winery since 2003. They are mostly destemmed, albeit depending on vineyard and vintage, with a few more stems being used recently – then placed in wooden fermenters. The juice is given a cool soak at 15° then allowed to start naturally. The juice is punched down twice a day and temperature controlled so as not to exceed 32°C.
There is no great reliance on new wood in the maturation cellar, with 15-25% being used for village wines, 25-40% for premiers crus and no more than 50% for Bonnes Mares. In recent years Christophe has been searching for, and achieving, a greater sense of precision in his wines.
92-94 Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2016 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru Clos de la Bussire almost seemed to relish being unaffected by the frost. A soupon of schadenfreude perchance? It delivers a joyous, well-defined and concentrated bouquet with a mixture of black and blue fruit, almost Chambolle-like thanks to its richness. The palate is medium-bodied with fresh acidity, and there is superb density here. It feels lively and tensile without compromising the backbone one expects from this vineyard: layers of black fruit tinged with graphite toward the finish. It is almost as if this Morey is rubbing in the fact that its Chambolle stablemates suffered so much during the growing season. This ranks alongside the stupendous 2015 last year.