Winemaker Notes
From a 1 ha parcel planted in the early 1980s from lieux-dits Les Violettes, Maizières. two-thirds whole-cluster, indigenous yeast fermentation, 15 days maceration in tank. Aged for 18 months in 300L barrels (25% new oak), unfined, unfiltered.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
5 barrels were made, including 77 litres of Au Dessus des Malconsorts. A fresh purple, with a beautifully heady yet classically Vosne nose. Excellent energy, useful tannins, less obvious acidity, but overall a charming Vosne. Drink from 2029-2035. T
Barrel Sample: 89-92 -
Decanter
The village-level Vosne from Benjamin Leroux is fairly restrained in the 2024 vintage. The fruit flavours open up a bit on the palate with notes of plum and peony, but the fruit lacks the generosity that I have come to expect from Leroux’s wines. Yields this year were catastrophically low – a mere five barrels instead of 25. There was even 77 litres of Malconsorts blended into the Vosne Villages to make it 7% premier cru. The texture is firm and tannic and will require some time to come around.
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Vinous
The 2024 Vosne-Romanée Village includes the fruit from Malconsorts that was aged in a WineGlobe with the stems. It has a touch of dark chocolate on the nose and plenty of slightly musky red fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with fluid tannins, quite peppery in style, gentle grip with a cohesive and quite persistent finish. Barrel Sample: 88-90
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.