Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
A fullish clear yellow. The nose is exquisite and approachable but it seems to have become even richer since bottling, while holding its balance without any difficulty. Clos des Mouches always offers a dense texture, on this occasion with a lemon curd note, balanced by a thread of lime to keep it all fresh. Really beautiful!
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Joseph Drouhin Beaune Côte de Mouches Blanc is white Burgundy at the highest level. TASTING NOTES: This wine is complex and expansive. Enjoy it with steamed lobster over fresh egg noodles in a decadent cream sauce. (Tasted: April 25, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted from bottle, Drouhin's 2017 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Blanc is showing very well, offering up aromas of fresh pear, Meyer lemon and grapefruit zest that are still quite youthfully marked by a generous application of buttery new oak that experience shows will integrate nicely with a little age. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, satiny and textural, with racy underlying acids, a fragrant core of fruit and a long, penetrating finish. This is a very elegant, aromatic rendition of this emblematic Drouhin cuvée. Rating:93+
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Wine Spectator
Verging on creamy in texture, this white offers floral, peach, butterscotch and citrus flavors. Balanced and elegant, picking up a mineral element on the lingering aftertaste. Shows fine intensity and harmony. Drink now through 2027.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
While the city represents the epicenter of wine production in Burgundy, the term, “Beaune” also refers to the specific sub-appellation of the greater Côte de Beaune, whose vineyards climb up the pastoral slopes that border the city to its west. Originally founded as a Roman camp by Julius Caesar, the city of Beaune eventually became the seat of the dukes of Burgundy until the 13th century. Today it is home to top négociants such as Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, and Bouchard Père et Fils.
The appellation, dominated by Pinot Noir plantings, represents a lovely and charming place to begin to understand red Burgundy. Its sandy soils create light and supple, floral driven Pinot Noir. These wines are designed to be enjoyed within five to 10 years. The vineyards of Beaune span a broad swath of Premier Crus from Savigny-lès-Beaune to its border with Pommard.
Chardonnay acreage here has been increasing here in the more recent years.