History and Headquarters
The Domaine Georges Roumier is based in Chambolle-Musigny on the Côte de Nuits in Burgundy. Georges Roumier moved there in 1924 after his marriage and farmed vineyard holdings from his wife’s family. Jean-Marie Roumier followed him in 1961 officially; Christophe Roumier joined around 1981. Since the 1983 vintage, the family has bottled the entire harvest itself. Christophe Roumier has been running the estate since Jean-Marie Roumier’s retirement in 1990 together with his sister Delphine.
Vineyard Sites and Soils
The holdings are located in Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis and Corton-Charlemagne. The Musigny plot is situated in the upper part of the Grand Cru appellation at 280 to 310 metres above sea level, faces east and has a slope of 15 percent. Its clay- and chalk-bearing soils lie above compact Bathonian rock and contain white oolith.
The Bonnes-Mares plot is likewise orientated to the east at 270 to 310 metres above sea level with a slope of 15 to 20 percent. It includes calcareous marl on the upper slope as well as clay- and chalk-bearing soils on the lower slope. In the upper areas, marl rich in fossils occurs, with Ostrea acuminata. The Morey-Saint-Denis Premier Cru Clos de la Bussière is a gently sloping, dome-shaped plot at 265 metres above sea level with very stony subsoil and iron-bearing clay.
The Corton-Charlemagne plot is located in the commune of Pernand-Vergelesses. It faces west, lies at 280 to 305 metres above sea level and has a slope of 15 percent. The soil consists of clay-rich material over Callovian limestone; according to the estate, the western aspect helps the grapes ripen later.
Vineyard Work
Since 1988, the estate has foregone chemical fertilisers and since 1989 it has foregone herbicides. Since the early 1990s, it has described its approach as viticulture raisonnée using means intended to support the balance of the ecosystem. Documented work includes precise vine pruning, re-ploughing, the use of compost, manual harvesting and a detailed sorting of the grapes.
Old vines are propagated using cuttings from existing vines rather than being planted anew regularly. This includes vines that are nearly a hundred years old in Musigny and Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses.
Grape Varieties and Maturation
The red wines are produced from Pinot Noir. Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is the estate’s only white wine and is made from Chardonnay. The range includes red wines from regional, village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru appellations, including Bonnes-Mares and Musigny, as well as Corton-Charlemagne.
The general vinification process includes partial destemming in some cases, exclusively indigenous yeasts and a gentle vat fermentation over an average of 20 to 23 days with limited use of new oak. The Chambolle-Musigny village wine is destemmed 70 to 90 percent and matures for 14 months in two to eight-year-old barriques, of which 10 to 15 percent are new oak; it is bottled without fining or filtration. For Musigny Grand Cru, the destemming is 35 percent, with a maturation time of 16 months in two to eight-year-old barriques without new oak. This wine is also bottled without fining and filtration. Corton-Charlemagne ferments with natural yeasts, matures for about a year in two to five-year-old wooden barrels and is then aged for five months in a stainless-steel tank; it is fined with bentonite and lightly filtered.
