It is always a great pleasure to travel to Burgundy to taste with the vignerons themselves in their own cellars. But the privilege is amplified when you visit a producer like Jérôme Galeyrand who is currently being lauded as one of the most talented vignerons in Burgundy at the moment and a domaine “at the top of its game.” Jérôme Galeyrand is a discreet, soft spoken and incredibly thoughtful winemaker whose wines are personified by perfumed precision, refinement, purity and elegance – wines that are not only serious, but seriously delicious to drink.
Originally from the Loire Valley, Jérôme came into winemaking after working for over eight years in the French food industry. After several harvests working for Domaine Alain Burguet in Gevrey-Chambertin from 1996, Jérôme embarked on his own project culminating in the purchase of his own first tiny vineyard plot of 0.05 hectares in Les Retraits in Comblanchien. Since then, Jérôme has grown his domaine to its current 5.25 hectares of vines. His viticulture is largely organic for 70% of his vineyards and sustainable for the remaining 30% of vines. No pesticides are used, and all vineyard rows are ploughed. Some wines include whole-clusters, and the vinification is carried out as delicately as possible with limited use of SO2, which helps contribute to his wines’ refinement and purity. After being manually basket pressed and fermented with natural yeasts, all wines are aged in oak barrels, 12 months for whites and between 18 to 24 months for reds.
Jérôme Galeyrand produces a little over 2,000 cases per year depending on the vintage, but the highlights of his exceptional range are undoubtedly his four famous reds: La Justice, Billard, Croisette and Les Retraits, which renowned Burgundy critics like William Kelley and Jasper Morris MW consider to be in a class of their own. As with all Burgundies of this quality and refined elegance, these are undoubtedly wines for the connoisseur. But don’t miss out on Jérôme’s superb white wines and especially his characterful Aligoté cuvées that exemplify the newfound quality this cultivar is capable of producing.
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Antonin Bourgogne Rouge 2022
Crisp, fresh and beautifully bright. This perennial over performer is lively, vibrant and fresh with layers of red cherry, raspberry and bramble berry fruits, powdery mineral tannins, great linearity and a long finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Marsannay Le Village 2022
Dark, black fruited and attractively plummy with an earthy bramble berry and damson aromatics. Tantalisingly tangy and racy, the palate is fresh and fleshy with ample tension, tart cherry and cranberry fruit concentration, soft supple tannins and a long linear finish. Wonderful focus.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Cotes de Nuits Village Rouge 2022
Already shows a deep, complex, earthy, savoury red berry plummy aromatics with subtle smoky, sappy, leafy hints, and an attractive, sweet berry fruited intensity on a long savoury saline finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Fixin Village 2022
This is a complex and impressively expressive wine already showing a smoky, saline reductive nose boasting salty black currant, oyster shell and damson plum. Really impressive breadth and depth from the outset, a harmonious balance and cool, compact racy acids that hold a lot of charm and energy. A very classy effort indeed.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Gevrey-Chambertin ‘La Justice’ 2022
This is always a wine with stature and presence, and the 2022 is stony and saline with crushed oyster shell nuances, salty cassis, pithy black currant and a cool, broad, plush elegance with real balance and purity but also classically racy acids and a long, harmonious length. Really impressive craftmanship on display here from this famous lieu dit.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Gevrey-Chambertin Billard 2022
Another one of Jerome’s most famous cuvees, this 2022 reveals an exotic melange of rose petals, savoury black berry, wild brambly fruits and subtle stony limestone nuances. Plush, full, and fleshy on the palate with impressive depth and balance, Galeyrand fans are going to be seduced by the generous weight of fruit and a voluptuous breadth.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes En Croisette 2022
Made from beautiful old vines planted in 1900, this 2022 is succulent, deep, dark and broody packed with aromatic layers of blackberry fruits on the expressive nose. Everything just falls seamlessly into place on the palate with exotic purple fruits, black berries and a damson plum intensity. A compact, chalky, and incredibly complete expression of old vine Pinot Noir majesty at its finest.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Fixin Champs des Charmes 2022
Another of Jerome’s flagship cuvees made from old vines planted in 1960s. Reveals a piercing aromatics of black currants, pithy black cherry, oyster shell, and saline nori seaweed hints. Full and dense, plush and generous in the mouth with incredible texture, fleshy opulence and a savoury plummy, earthy depth. Another very complete, harmonious wine. Simply gorgeous.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Marsannay Clos du Roy 2022
The 2021 cuvee caught the eye of many serious Burgundy collectors and impressively, the 2022 vintage is another super impressive wine showing an incredibly lifted and perfumed personality on the nose with pressed violets, spring blossoms and pink flowers together with red currants and delicate musk notes. Superb balance and a harmonious structure with a compact, saline, sumptuous mouthfeel. Very impressive indeed and probably one of the stars of the vintage for Jerome.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Cotes de Nuits-Villages Les Retraits 2022
While this is not made from one of Jerome’s most famous appellations, the Les Retraits has fast become one of his most sought-after wines. The 2022 is incredibly complete, fabulously silky and round with notable balance and harmonious depth, finely balancing a creamy concentrated structure with soft, elegant, silky tannins while never losing its bright, mouth-watering, brambly fruited energy. A beautiful wine that punches well above its weight.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Aligoté 2022
Medium to full bodied, this deliciously fleshy Aligoté boasts evocative aromatics of Glacé orange peel, lemon rind and citrus oil with tangy vibrant acids, a salty briney freshness and a fabulously cool, classy finish with a subtle stony liquid mineral kiss on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Aligoté Chaumant Blanc 2022
A real stand out wine for me while tasting with Jerome, it possesses a delightfully bright, tangy, vibrant aromatics of orange peel, citrus oil, and ripe tangerine with a chalky talc minerality that simply seduces the palate! In the mouth, the wine is jam packed full of salty, briney Jura’esque picante oyster shell salinity, a stony limestone minerality, massive extract concentration and a long, understated dry mineral finish. I absolutely loved it. Top drawer Aligoté!
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Aligoté Bouzeron 2022
Another impressive Aligoté expression from this unique terroir, boasting juicy aromatics of glacé apples, white citrus, smoky lemon peel, freshly baked apple strudel, and mineral limestone hints. The palate shows impressive depth and balance but with an understated, restrained intensity, finishing with a simply delicious, tangy, dry grippy persistence.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Bourgogne Chardonnay Orane 2022
Made from Chardonnay grapes sourced from 0.42 hectares located in Brochon and Flagey-Echezeaux, the aromatics show succulent melon and white peach nuances, white citrus and an earthy, savoury, leesy depth. Charming elegance, a notable fruit acid harmony and a pithy, vibrant finish. Simply spot on!
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Cotes de Nuits Villages Blanc 2022
The aromatics on this Cotes de Nuits Villages Blanc made from a massale selection of old Chardonnay vines boast complex layers of sweet citrus, lemon oil, wet chalk and a dusty, cedary wood spice hint. The balance and harmony is very impressive, seamlessly interwoven with a smoky limestone minerality before a truly energetic, zippy finish. A delightful white Burgundy.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jérôme Galeyrand Marsannay Les Champs Perdrix Blanc 2022
Made from seven-year-old vines, the 2022 Les Champs Perdrix reveals a seductively rich, mineral, smoky nose, with tangy orange citrus, pear drop, orange cordial, and a smoky limestone minerality. The palate is fabulously cool and genteel with layers of tangy acidity, orange peel zest and a plush, fleshy saline depth. Truly delicious!
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines of Jerome Galeyrand are imported exclusively into the UK by http://www.musigny.wine and are available on allocation. Contact: andrew@musigny.wine