domaine-robert-chevillon

Domaine Robert Chevillon et Fils

Overview

Domaine Robert Chevillon is the benchmark estate of Nuits-St-Georges, now run by Bertrand Chevillon. The domaine holds premier cru parcels in most of the village’s great vineyards — Les Saint-Georges, Les Vaucrains, Les Cailles, Les Chaignots, Les Pruliers, Les Perrières — and the wines are the definitive expression of Nuits-St-Georges: earthy, robust, dark-fruited, and long-aging. The cellars are deep and cold, among the coldest in Burgundy.

Appellations

• Nuits-St-Georges (villages, “Vieilles Vignes,” and premier crus: Vaucrains, Saint-Georges, Cailles, Chaignots, Pruliers, Perrières, Roncière)

Key Wines

• Nuits-St-Georges “les Vaucrains” — the most powerful and structured; needs 15+ years
• Nuits-St-Georges “les Saint-Georges” — arguably the most complete; grand cru quality
• Nuits-St-Georges “les Cailles” — more accessible; fine and elegant for Nuits

Style Notes

Classic, uncompromising Nuits. Dark fruit, iron, leather, earth. The “Vieilles Vignes” villages bottling is one of the best value-for-quality wines in the Côte de Nuits. Wines here need patience — they close down after bottling and require years to open. Gilman tasted in cold January cellars and had to warm the glasses.

2023 Vintage Notes (VFTC #115)

Visited mid-January 2025 (cellars cold by the 16th). Everything still in cask. Bertrand Chevillon called the vintage a “beautiful surprise.” Generally quite black fruity — Gilman thought of the domaine’s 1993s (“fairly similar aromatically, albeit with quite different structural chassis”).

2023 Scores:

• Les St. Georges: 95 pts (2040–2095) — “pure magic”; stunning aromatic fireworks; touch of graphite
• Les Vaucrains: 95 pts (2040–2095) — inherent elegance of finest 2023 reds; topnote of currant leaf
• Les Cailles: 94+ pts (2040–2090) — “supremely elegant for young Nuits”; great backend energy
• Les Pruliers: 94 pts (2040–2090) — very elegant; rock solid core
• Les Perrieres: 93+ pts (2038–2085) — beautifully defined by underlying minerality
• Les Roncieres: 93+ pts (2038–2085) — sappy black fruit; topnote of violet
• Les Bousselots: 92+ pts (2035–2080) — one of few showing red fruit
• Les Chaignots: 92 pts (2035–2080) — more structured than usual; will demand bottle age
• Nuits Vieilles Vignes: 90+ pts (2035–2075+) — “outstanding this year”

2024 Vintage Notes (Burghound #101, barrel)

Bertrand Chevillon described 2024 as “a sort of war where it was basically us against the mildew. You either did what needed to be done, and just as importantly, when it needed to be done, or you paid the price.” Treated relentlessly — “Sundays, holidays, birthdays, it didn’t matter.” Yields 15-20 hl/ha (better than single-digit yields elsewhere). Potential alcohols 12.5-13%, no chaptalization. Compares the style to 2017 with better acidities. Meadows: “I was seriously impressed with the quality I found here, indeed the Chevillon brothers have crafted some of the best wines of the vintage. If you can find the wines, buy them.”

2024 Scores (barrel):

• Les Cailles 1er: (93-95) — 1.12 ha of 75+ year old vines; “super-sleek and seriously intense”; “the word Zen comes to mind. If you can find it, buy it.”
• Les Vaucrains 1er: (93-95) — “sensational”; old vines evident; “a wine that should amply repay extended keeping. Again, if you can find it, buy it.”
• Les St. Georges 1er: (92-95) — 75+ year old vines; “first-rate but…built to repay extended aging”
• Les Perrières 1er: (91-94) — “terrific and warmly recommended”
• Les Pruliers 1er: (91-94) — 50+ year old vines; “terrific but…will require patience”
• Aux Bousselots 1er: (91-93) — “very good and worth your interest”
• Les Roncières 1er: (91-93) — “textbook Roncières”
• Les Chaignots 1er: (90-93) — “Lovely and very Chaignots in style”
• Nuits Vieilles Vignes: (89-91) — could be enjoyed young
• Bourgogne: (86-89) — “forthright gulpability”

VFTC #121 also noted the 2024 vintage was devastating (50-80% crop loss). Gilman scored the 2024 Vieilles Vignes at 91 — Meadows’ barrel range (89-91) is consistent at the higher end.

2022 Vintage Notes (VFTC #114)

Older vintage notes tasted in New York; no 2022 from Chevillon in this issue.

• 2001 Nuits-St-Georges “les Vaucrains”: 94 pts (2033–2085) — “still a bit too young for primetime; all constituent components in place; getting closer to entering its plateau but still a few years away.” Tasted alongside the 1996 Roncières.
• 1996 Nuits-St-Georges “les Roncières”: 91+ pts (2031–2070+) — “hunkered down in hibernation; still quite closed; rock solid core of fruit; strongly suspect score will go up once it re-opens.”

My Tastings

(none yet)

Sources

• sources/articles/VFTC/VFTC Jan-Feb 2025 #115.txt
• sources/articles/VFTC/VFTC Jan-Feb 2026 #121.pdf (pages 75+)
• sources/articles/VFTC/VFTC Nov-Dec 2024 #114.txt (pages 29–30)
• sources/articles/Burghound/Burghound Issue 101 - 2024 and 2023 Cote de Nuits Reds.txt