Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Two parcels, one-third from the top and the balance from the lower section of the vineyard. This has very expressive ripe cherries, making it a very sapid, fresh and powerful wine. Attractive depth and expansion through the finish. Try from 2022.
Barrel Sample: 93-94 -
Wine Spectator
A beam of cherry anchors this intense red. Though concentrated, this stays agile, with cinnamon, vanilla, currant and licorice flavors. Compact and underlined by dusty tannins, this comes back to the cherry element on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2042. 50 cases imported.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru was picked on 23 September and includes 35% whole bunch with 40% new oak. It has a very refined and harmonious bouquet with vivacious red cherry, wild strawberry and bergamot aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp and focused, not the greatest depth of all the Clos de Vougeots that I have tasted but I appreciate the energy and freshness locked into this wine. It should not require too much bottle age.
Barrel Sample: 90-92
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Containing the largest Grand Cru in all of the Côte d’Or, Vougeot, the village, takes its name from the small stream flowing through it, called Vouge. Over three quarters of the village retains Grand Cru status, and a single vineyard at that: Clos de Vougeot (or simply, Clos Vougeot). Its mass—over 50 ha—retains the single name chiefly for historic reasons.
But today, Clos de Vougeot contains over 80 owners and shows significant soil and slope variations within its boundaries. The top, bordering Musigny and Grands Echezeaux, is calcareous and gravelly on oolitic limestone and exhibits wonderful drainage. The middle sections are limestone, gravel and clay with less of a slope. The lower part has little slant and is mostly made of clay. Historically the diverse parcels were blended but today the abundance of owners means that everyone has his own style. Exploring and understanding them is part of the allure of Clos de Vougeot.
In general a fine Clos de Vougeot when young will be dense and dark but juicy, with a pronounced austerity, and needs a good ten years to bring it to its full potential.