Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru 'Les Chaumes', Philippe Pacalet, 2024
Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru 'Les Chaumes', Philippe Pacalet, 2024
- 75cl
- 13%
- Red Still
- Pinot Noir
- Organic
- Biodynamic
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Optimal drinking window: 2028 - 2042
Philippe Pacalet is one of Burgundy's great originals — a trained winemaker who apprenticed under Marcel Lapierre and brought a natural-wine sensibility to the Côte de Nuits long before it became fashionable. His Vosne-Romanée 'Les Chaumes' comes from one of the village's most underrated premiers crus, sitting just south of Richebourg on the lower slope, where the limestone and clay deliver something a little rounder and more giving than the grands crus above, without sacrificing any of Vosne's signature brooding depth.
"1 barrel. Rocky soils near La Tâche and Malconsorts. Raspberry fruit with warm spice notes. Satin-smooth texture, elegant and finely balanced."
Nathan Hill, Chairman
Philippe was clear that while yields were historically low, the payoff is in the glass. Aromatic clarity, saline finishes and finely judged tannins run through the range, and the wines show real charm already alongside the structure to age. A year where selection mattered enormously, and in Pacalet’s hands, the results are compelling.
Philippe Pacalet is one of Tim Atkin's 2024 Top 15 Négociants & Cooperatives.
What the critics say:
"More substantial than the Vosne Hautes Mazières, the premier cru Chaumes has a pronounced fruit aroma, with lovely raspberry and blackberry fruit and hints of earth and spice. The elegant texture reveals more flesh and a bit more exuberance; the tannins are supple and fine, yet along with the fresh acidity they balance the fruit and draw the wine to a lingering finish. This should be accessible fairly young, but has the substance to age as well."
Les Chaumes is a 8.66-hectare premier cru at the southern tip of Vosne-Romanée, abutting the Nuits-Saint-Georges boundary. The soils here are deeper and more clay-rich than the celebrated hillside sites further north, which gives Les Chaumes its characteristic grip and earthier register. The mid-slope position captures good morning sun while retaining cool nights that preserve acidity — critical in a vintage like 2024, which was already naturally cool and precise.
Vosne-Romanée is the most hallowed commune in the Côte de Nuits, home to all six of Burgundy's Romanée grands crus and an uncommonly strong bench of premiers crus. The appellation rules require 100% Pinot Noir for reds, with relatively low permitted yields; in practice, the best growers push well below the legal limits. Compared to neighbouring Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne tends to produce wines of greater silkiness and aromatic lift; compared to Chambolle-Musigny to the north, it has more structure and weight. Les Chaumes is considered one of the more approachable premier cru sites, but approachable here is strictly relative.
The 2024 growing season in Burgundy was, frankly, a test of nerve. A wet spring brought significant mildew pressure, and vignerons who stayed sharp in the vineyard — working fast, keeping canopies open, reducing yields where necessary — came out the other side with something worth talking about. Summer brought warmer, drier conditions that helped the fruit recover composure, and harvest arrived broadly on the later side, with growers picking carefully to find phenolic ripeness without sacrificing freshness. Quantity was down across much of the Côte, which concentrates minds as much as it concentrates wine.
What emerged is a vintage that rewards those who put the work in. The Pinots we have tasted carry real precision and translucency — not because they are light, but because the acidity is lively and the fruit unforced. Chardonnays from the Côte de Beaune look particularly promising: taut, mineral, with genuine length. This is not a vintage to panic-open. Most village and premier cru reds want three to five years at minimum, with the better appellations drinking well until 2035 and beyond. The whites are more approachable now, though the best will reward patience too.
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