At the Southern End of Gevrey-Chambertin
The climat of Les Mazoyères occupies the southern tip of the Gevrey-Chambertin parish, in the Côte-d'Or, on the boundary of the commune of Morey-Saint-Denis. Like the Charmes, the Griotte and the Chapelle, it lies at the foot of the Côte, between the route des Grands Crus (D 122) and the old route nationale 74 (D 974) — that is to say on the "plain" side of the track, while the top of the slope is occupied, from south to north, by the Latricières, the Chambertin, the Clos de Bèze, the Mazis and the Ruchottes.
The neighbourhood tells the whole story of the cru. To the north, Charmes-Chambertin, from which no obvious physical barrier separates it; to the west, climbing, Latricières-Chambertin and the premier cru Aux Combottes; to the east, the village vines of Gevrey-Chambertin; to the south, the premiers crus of Morey-Saint-Denis. The delimited plots lie at the piedmont of the relief, between 260 and 280 metres in altitude, on a slight terrace facing the rising sun. Beware the near-homonym: Mazis-Chambertin, also at Gevrey, has no link with the Mazoyères — it lies at the top of the slope, at the other end of the commune.
The Terroir: A Terrace on an Alluvial Fan
The geology of the terrace is composite. On its western part, the plots rest on a substrate of hard Bajocian limestones, Middle Jurassic, once quarried for dressed stone; there are also the Bajocian marls and crinoidal limestone, where many marine fossils outcrop. On the eastern part, the substrate is deep, made up of the Tertiary formations of the Bresse plain. The whole is covered by the clayey, gravelly, calcareous material of an alluvial fan issuing from a small dry valley cutting into the front of the Côte, the Combe Grisard.
The resulting soils are weakly developed, generally carbonated, thin and free-draining, predominantly clay-limestone, with a high proportion of clay and of red silts derived from the weathering of the subsoil and of the relief above. This is exactly the terroir of Charmes-Chambertin, whose terrace and alluvial fan Mazoyères shares: the geological kinship largely explains why the two crus were historically able to be conflated on the label. One nuance of orientation, however: the Mazoyères plots, lying to the south, look a little more southwards than those of Aux Charmes, on slopes that are always gentle.
Climate, Exposure and Production Rules
The climate is that of the whole Côte de Nuits: cool oceanic, tempered by continental or southern influences channelled by the Rhône-Saône axis. Rainfall is moderate and regular — about 750 millimetres a year — with no marked summer drought, for an average annual temperature of 10.5°C. East of the Morvan and the Burgundian plateaus, the Côte enjoys a climatic shelter that gives it a thermal advantage and a notable rainfall deficit. The position of the plots, at the piedmont, protects them from frost and morning fog while ensuring an exposure to the rising sun that warms the soil quickly.
The rules are those of the grands crus of Gevrey: a minimum density of 9,000 vines per hectare, pruning limited to eight true buds per vine, an average maximum load of 8,000 kilos per hectare, irrigation forbidden, wood chips banned in the cellar. The sugar content of the grapes may not be lower than 198 grams per litre of must, for a minimum natural alcoholic strength of 11.5%. The base yield is set at 45 hl/ha and the ceiling yield at 53 hl/ha, that is the regime of the seven "satellite" grands crus and not the stricter one of Chambertin and the Clos de Bèze. The wines are aged at least until 15 June of the year following the harvest and released from 30 June. The words "grand cru" are compulsory on the label, and naming the grape variety there is forbidden.
A Grand Cru Almost Always Drunk Under Another Name
This is the singularity that defines the appellation. An old accommodation — Wikipedia dates it to 1945, the Charmes-Chambertin cahier des charges speaks of "a common usage" — allows wines harvested on the plots of the lieu-dit "Mazoyères" to take the name "Charmes-Chambertin". The reverse does not exist: no wine from "Aux Charmes" may be labelled Mazoyères-Chambertin. The mechanism is a cousin of the one that allows Chambertin-Clos de Bèze to be sold as Chambertin.
The statistical effect is spectacular. In 2008, only 1.72 hectares were declared as Mazoyères-Chambertin, for 65 hectolitres — a little under 9,000 bottles — while 28.97 hectares were declared as Charmes-Chambertin, about half of which in fact came from the Mazoyères climat. The BIVB still recorded 2.89 hectares in production in 2022 against 27.76 for Charmes. In other words, the great majority of the wine of Mazoyères is drunk under the name of Charmes, and only some growers claim the climat's own name; a few take a middle path by writing "Charmes-Chambertin Les Mazoyères" on the label. Looking for a bottle actually carrying the words Mazoyères-Chambertin is therefore something of a treasure hunt.
The Style of the Wines and Their Ageing
This clay-limestone soil mixed with silts and gravelly scree gives wines with a deep robe, between dark ruby and black cherry. The nose combines red and black fruits — blackcurrant, redcurrant, raspberry — with liquorice and spice, floral notes of violet and rose and, with time, a base of undergrowth. The palate is powerful, opulent and complex, without losing the elegance expected of a grand cru of Gevrey.
Cellaring commonly equals and exceeds ten years. Serve between 12 and 14°C when the wine is young, 15 to 16°C when it has evolved. At the table, these bottles call for game grilled or in a wine sauce, lamb in sauce, coq au vin and washed-rind cheeses. Textbook reputation: Mazoyères is said to be a little firmer and more earthy than the "Aux Charmes" part, but the very small number of bottles actually labelled under this name makes the comparison hard to draw other than estate by estate.
From Vanished Cottages to Grand Cru
The place name speaks of an inhabited place more than a planted one: "mazoyères" denotes huts or small houses, and preserves the memory of a group of dwellings that disappeared long ago. Vine growing here is very ancient — the history of the sector merges with that of the Côte: Domitian's edict in 92, its repeal by Probus in 280, monastic expansion from the sixth century, the banning of gamay in favour of pinot noir by Philip the Bold in 1395, the delimitation of the wines of Burgundy by Charles VI in 1416.
The compound name, on the other hand, is recent. In the early twentieth century, wines from the Mazoyères were commonly sold under the name "Mazoyères-Chambertin"; the 1931 ruling of the Dijon court recognised this usage, fixed its geographical limits and officially added the name "Chambertin" to that of the lieu-dit. The AOC was then recognised by the decree of 31 July 1937, at the same time as the other grands crus of Gevrey-Chambertin; the delimited production area was approved by the INAO at the national committee session of 17 and 18 May 1984. Since 2015, all the climats of the Burgundy vineyard, this one included, have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.