Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Drouhin 2006 Beaune Clos des Mouches as usual reflects extensive acreage planted largely with old selection massale vines and pampered as a flagship. Stylistically, too, this is another world from that in the glass of this year's Beaune Greves. Here we have thought-provoking complexity of animal and mineral nuances allied to a rather brooding, dark fruit fundament with a bitter herbal edge. There is spice here as well, but of a sharply penetrating and pungent sort, suggesting raw ginger and white pepper. At the same time, this shares with nearly all of the Drouhin wines of its vintage a soothing creaminess allied to an overtly lactic flavor component which I don't find disturbing or discordant, though some might. The contrast of textural allure and pungent attack persists here into a long, satisfying and stimulating finish.
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.”
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.