Domaine Trapet

The Free Bacchus Story

Chambertin was Napoleon's wine, which is the fact everyone repeats about it, and it tells you nothing at all about what is happening in the vineyard now.

What is happening at Trapet is Demeter-certified biodynamic farming across holdings in Gevrey-Chambertin, including the grand cru itself. Jean-Louis Trapet converted the domaine in the 1990s, at a point when doing so in the Côte de Nuits invited more scepticism than admiration from neighbours.

Trapet converted at a point when doing so in this part of Burgundy invited more scepticism than admiration. The village and premier cru bottlings come off the same certified ground as the grand cru.

The wines are perfumed rather than heavy, which is the Gevrey style that gets lost when growers chase extraction. Decanter has awarded Gold. The Chambertin is allocated and priced accordingly; the village and premier cru bottlings carry the same farming without the same queue.

For anyone working out where biodynamics actually sits in Burgundy, this is a useful data point. It's not a fringe practice here. It's being done on some of the most valuable agricultural land in the world by people who can't afford a bad decade.