Description
The wine
Marsannay sits at the northern gateway to the Côte de Nuits — the first village south of Dijon, and the only appellation in Burgundy producing all three colours. It is historically overshadowed by the more celebrated villages to the south, which keeps prices reasonable and quality interesting. The push for Premier Cru classification — well advanced for several of Marsannay’s best sites — is beginning to change that.
Le Chapitre is one of those sites. The name comes from the chapter house of the Cistercian monks of Cîteaux, who farmed this land for centuries before the Revolution. The plot sits on the upper slope of Marsannay, on well-drained, stony clay-limestone soils facing east-southeast — the same exposure and fundamental soil type as the Côte de Nuits villages immediately to the south. The quality of fruit from Le Chapitre has long been recognised by serious producers as among Marsannay’s finest.
Yann Charlopin handles it with the same precision he brings to everything in the range: organic farming, hand-harvested, fully destemmed, cold maceration before fermentation with native yeasts, slow ageing on fine lees, no filtration. The distinctive wax capsule — a Charlopin-Tissier signature applied to every bottle by hand — seals it.
The 2019 Le Chapitre is also available in magnum — a natural pairing for a collector or restaurant buyer who wants both formats.
Tasting notes
Deep ruby. Red cherry, blackcurrant, a hint of violet and dried herbs on the nose — the aromatic precision of Marsannay Pinot Noir at its most site-specific. The palate is structured and focused with fine-grained tannins, good concentration, and a long, clean mineral finish that reflects the stony clay-limestone soils of the upper slope. More depth and complexity than the village Marsannay — the terroir of Le Chapitre is legible in the glass. Drink now through 2032.
Service: 16°C. Duck breast, lamb, beef in sauce, mushroom dishes, aged hard cheeses.
2022 vintage note
2022 was a warm, generous vintage across the Côte de Nuits — excellent growing conditions producing wines of exceptional fruit clarity and smooth tannin structure. For a well-drained, upper-slope lieu-dit like Le Chapitre, the vintage adds concentration and fruit weight without sacrificing the mineral precision of the terroir. Approachable now and built to develop over the next eight to ten years.
