Domaine Bernard Grivelet – Romanée-Saint-Vivant 'Grand Cru' 1976

Domaine Bernard Grivelet – Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru 1976: A Burgundian legacy from a year of extremes

The 1976 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru from Domaine Bernard Grivelet is a wine of rare historical depth – a testament to the Burgundian winemaking tradition, hailing from one of the most prestigious sites in the Côte de Nuits and bearing the hallmark of an estate whose roots stretch back to the early 20th century. Produced in a year that went down in Burgundian wine history as the ‘year of the heatwave’, it thus embodies both the challenges and the greatness of an exceptional vintage.

Domaine Bernard Grivelet was a historic winery in Vosne-Romanée which, for generations, ranked amongst the established names of the Côte de Nuits. The Grivelet family were originally coopers – a craft that has always been closely linked to viticulture in Burgundy – and produced, in Fernand Alfred Grivelet (1885–1958) and his son Bernard Grivelet (1913–…), two prominent winemakers who shaped the estate. The family business, which operated under the names Grivelet Père & Fils and Domaine Grivelet, owned vineyards in some of Burgundy’s most renowned sites, including the Premier Cru site Les Malconsorts in Vosne-Romanée, which remained in the family’s possession until 1964, as well as plots in Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot and Echézeaux. The estate’s wines were traded internationally and sold at auctions held by renowned houses such as Christie’s and HDH Auctions – a testament to the former significance of the Domaine. For decades, the Grivelet family was an integral part of the wine-growing community of Vosne-Romanée and contributed to the village’s reputation as one of Burgundy’s most important wine-growing centres.

At the heart of this wine lies the Romanée-Saint-Vivant vineyard, a Grand Cru that ranks amongst the finest in the Côte de Nuits. Covering just 9.43 hectares, the appellation lies on a gently sloping east-facing hillside at an altitude of 250 to 260 metres, right next to the centre of Vosne-Romanée, nestled between the Premier Cru vineyards of Les Suchots to the north and La Grande Rue to the south. To the west, at its highest point, it borders the legendary vineyards of Romanée-Conti, La Romanée and Richebourg – a neighbourhood that underscores the prestige of this vineyard. The soil consists of brown, calcareous clay with a clay content of around 50 per cent, reaching a depth of approximately 90 centimetres – significantly deeper than the neighbouring Romanée-Conti, which is 60 centimetres deep. The subsoil, consisting of hard Premeaux limestone, dates geologically from the Jurassic period and is around 175 million years old. The numerous limestone formations in the soil store the heat of the day and radiate it to the vines at night, whilst at the same time ensuring good drainage. Due to its pure east-facing aspect, the microclimate is relatively cool but particularly sunny; its position below the Combe de Concoeur ravine protects the vineyard from night-time downdrafts and late frosts. The wines from this vineyard are considered the lightest and most delicate of the Grands Crus of Vosne-Romanée – they are characterised by an exquisite bouquet with sweet floral notes, remarkable aromatic finesse and a silky texture.

The 1976 vintage was a year of extremes in Burgundy. Following a series of poor vintages – particularly the rain-soaked 1975 – 1976 brought a frost-free winter and a mild spring, followed by an exceptionally hot and dry summer. Wine literature still recalls ‘the year of the heatwave’ and the drought, which hampered photosynthesis and put the vines under stress. The harvest began in mid-September and was early; timely rainfall at the end of the month did not affect the majority of the grapes. The result was exceptionally concentrated Pinot Noir wines with a dense structure; however, the tannins did not fully mature, leading to wines with a dominant structure – particularly in the Côte de Nuits, whilst the Côte de Beaune achieved better results. Wine-Searcher describes the vintage as ‘exceptionally good’, but emphasises that the best examples came from the Côte de Beaune, as the Côte de Nuits suffered more from ‘overcooked fruit and heavy-handed structures’. Decanter lists names such as Marquis d’Angerville, Robert Ampeau, Grivot, Henri Jayer and Hubert de Montille among the vintage’s best producers – Grivelet is not mentioned there. Nevertheless, the fact remains that in a year in which nature presented the winemakers with major challenges, true mastery was demonstrated in the ability to produce a wine of remarkable depth through rigorous selection and precise vinification.

The tasting notes for the 1976 Romanée-Saint-Vivant are taken from auctions and refer to bottles from renowned producers such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Domaine Leroy. Michael Broadbent described the 1976 vintage as “a silky texture with Saint-Vivant aromas and a richness that makes you forget the tannins – lean and dry”. Allen Meadows (Burghound) noted after a tasting in April 2005: ‘Bricked through to the centre. An elegant, spicy and fully mature nose displaying notes of undergrowth and sous-bois, leading into complex, intense, sweet and solidly powerful, well-structured flavours that offer fine length and unusually good balance for the vintage. This wine is drinking as well as it ever will’. These descriptions refer to wines from Domaine Leroy and the DRC – not to Grivelet. There are no independent tasting notes for the Grivelet RSV 1976, which is hardly surprising given the rarity of this bottling. The liquid levels in the Grivelet bottles offered at Christie’s ranged from 1.0 to 2.0 centimetres below the cork, with slightly soiled labels – typical signs of decades of storage. The existence of this vintage is documented by auction lots at Christie’s, which offered the wine in mixed lots alongside other great Burgundies from the same vintage.

For collectors and connoisseurs, the 1976 Grivelet Romanée-Saint-Vivantis a wine of great rarity – a testament to a bygone era of Burgundian winemaking, from one of the finest vineyards of the Côte de Nuits, produced in a year that presented winemakers with extraordinary challenges. Anyone who opens a bottle of this vintage holds not only a rare Burgundy in their hands, but a piece of Burgundian contemporary history – with all the facets that go with it.