Winemaker Notes
The nose of this Vosne-Romanée features tobacco, tea and mild notes of spice. The palate is velvety with silky tannins, lovely fullness and remarkable balance. The finish is long and aromatic.
Try this Vosne-Romanée with red meat dishes, game in sauce and most cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Albert Bichot Vosne-Romanée Domain du Clos Frantin is outstanding. TASTING NOTES: This wine brings a note of earth, a suggestion of black fruit, and a hint of oak to the fore. Enjoy its tour de force with the first-cut a prime rib. (Tasted: April 7, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
A powerfully rich wine from vineyards owned by the Bichot family, this dense wine is packed with impressive tannins that are integrating and filling out. It will age well.
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Wine Spectator
This red is defined by gorgeous cherry, strawberry and currant fruit flavors, accented by hints of cinnamon, vanilla and light, toasty oak. Fresh and harmonious, with a lingering finish of fruit and spice notes. Drink now.
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.”
This is the village for the most die-hard Burgundy fanatics. Vosne-Romanée has for many hundreds of years been the source of the most sought-after Pinot Noir in Burgundy. The village claims six Grands Crus—and some of the most famous at that—but in other villages where owners manage tiny parcels or a few rows of any one vineyard, monopolies dominate the Grands Crus of Vosne-Romanee.
Of these monopolies, Domaine Romanee-Conti (DRC) reigns supreme, claiming not only more total vineyard area than any other producer, but outright owning the entirety of two of the Grands Crus and a majority of two others. In its full possession are naturally Romanée-Conti, as well as La Tâche. DRC also owns most of Richebourg and Romanée-St-Vivant. The final two, La Grande Rue and La Romanée are completely owned by other other produers: François Lamarche and Comte Liger Belair, respectively.
While one could spend a lifetime on the puzzles of land ownership in Burgundy, the point is that Vosne-Romanee contains the most valuable pieces of vineyard real estate in the world. Pinot Noir from any of its vineyards—especially from within its 27ha of Grand Cru or 58 ha of Premier Cru land—is going to rank among the best.
The most outstanding wines from this village have everything: finesse and elegance coupled with the body and sturdiness for incredibly long aging ability. They are intensely floral and exotically spiced. Beautifully ripe, complex and ephemeral throughout, they are robust, yet fine-grained in texture. These wines will stay gorgeous for the long haul.