Ruchottes-Chambertin is a village with a long and storied history. It is generally composed of two sections, Ruchottes du Bas and Ruchottes du Dessus. The monopole Clos de Ruchottes is part of the Ruchottes du Dessus. Lavalle rated the Dessus part of the vineyard higher than the Bas portion of the vineyard in 1855. For many years, Thomas Bassot owned all of Ruchottes-Chambertin, and made a Clos de Ruchottes wine and a regular Ruchottes wine. In 1976, the domaine was sold and Rousseau, Mugneret Gibourg, and Bonnefond purchased the majority of the vineyard. The Bonnefond wines are made by Roumier under a metayage agreement.
Currently the largest producers in Ruchottes are Rousseau, who own the monopole Clos de Ruchottes, with Mugneret-Gibourg, Roumier, Esmonin, Trapet Rochelandet (previously made by Philippe Pacalet), Henri Magnien, Chateau de Marsannay, and Marchand-Grillot as other producers.
The wines are generally more delicate than those from Chambertin or Clos de Beze, with a strong mineral streak. The Rousseau wines are generally lovely with fine structure and beautiful aromatics. The wines from Mugneret-Gibourg tend to be soulful and sultry, with very pretty fruit, while those from Roumier tend to have more structure and need longer to drink well. The Esmonin wines offer excellent value and are quite delicious, while Magnien is an up and coming producer making excellent wines. A lot of the other wines are quite hard to source.
Ruchottes-Chambertin is a fascinating vineyard with only a handful of producers, which along with Griotte-Chambertin offers elegant, pretty wines, with quite the power and depth of Chambertin and Beze, but beauty and grace that makes them quite attractive.
by Mchangwine