Domaine Jean Grivot

Etienne Grivot took over from his father in 1990 thus making him the fifth generation of Grivots to make wine in Vosne-Romanée.

In 1994 Etienne began to find his own voice and make a range of very fine wines. Since then he has reduced yields, fine-tuned his work in the vineyards and cellar and driven quality steadily upwards.

The grapes are one hundred percent de-stemmed and the fermentation is allowed to begin naturally, with a little punching down before this starts. Thereafter there is no more pigeage, but there is one pump-over per day before the wines go to barrel. Four cooperages are used to avoid the signature of any one particular barrel maker.

The rarest of all the domaine’s wines is the Richebourg Grand Cru, of which in some years we have only received a single bottle to cater for the entire South African market.

Etienne, now assisted by his daughter, Mathilde and son, Hubert, produces a range of stunning wines which possess real depth and class. In answer to a question over the secret of his success, he shares that “there’s no recipe, it’s very personal and as a result it’s very frustrating as one is never content”.

These are very personal and undeniably fine wines, with dramatically aromatic notes of red fruits, becoming denser as you progress up the range.