Winemaker Notes
The village is located between the village of Chambolle Musigny and the village of Vosne Romanée, two famous villages in the Night Hill. Historically, the West Turkic Church built an influential monastery here in the 12th century, and as a result, it received donations from many vineyards, creating Clos Vougeot, the largest special garden in today's Night Hill. In fact, the other four first-class gardens and village-level wines are also of high quality. The style of red wine is often black cherry, blackcurrant, violet-based, strong structure, thick balance. Rare liquor is famous for its balance between tropical fruits and minerals, and its body is rich and rich.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a wow, with with so many spices. Nutmeg, ash, cherry and blueberry aromas. Strawberries, too. Great nose. Full-bodied with fine, intense tannins that build through the palate. Hints of spices and walnuts. Superb. Try after 2024.
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Decanter
Muscular, dense, and dark in colour, this is heavily oaked and very concentrated. It will please fans of powerful wines. There is a ripe black fruit character and a rich texture that almost recalls the wines of the New World . This imposing wine, in the end, is well-made, but lacks a bit of the precision and finesse that the Clos is capable of delivering.
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.