Winemaker Notes
The wine shows aromas and flavors of red berries, herbs, and purple flowers. The palate is rich with ripe fruit and medium weight with bright acidity and fine tannins. Aging in 40-70% new Burgundian pièce brings notes of vanilla, toast, and baking spices. The wine’s high acidity, medium body, medium alcohol, and low tannins make it very food-friendly.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Running from their gate by the Route Nationale to the same height as the Château de la Tour, the Grivots' vines are all in the lower half of the Clos. In hot years like 2017, humid soils can be an advantage, which appears to be the case for this stylish, poised, well-balanced grand cru bottling. The 30% oak is particularly subtle, framing the fresh, mineral-edged finish.
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Jasper Morris
The colour shows more evolution and nose is sweetly smoky, perhaps a mix of stems (none used, in fact) and ripeness. Much more grip on the palate, I think this is going to become an excellent bottle in 5+ years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru displays attractive aromas of licorice and cassis that mingle with nuances of rose petal and incense, framed by a judicious touch of new wood. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and layered, with a broad-shouldered chassis of fine-grained tannins and the elegance and suppleness typical of the vintage, concluding with a sapid finish.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Wine Spectator
Enticing cherry, raspberry and plum fruit flavors pick up accents of tobacco, earth and mineral in this broad, powerful red. Balanced, with refined tannins lining the long finish. Best from 2023 through 2040.
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.