Winemaker Notes
An exceptional wine. Beautiful, deep-red ruby color, with the bright sheen of great Burgundies. Intense and fresh nose for the young wines. Primary notes of red fruit dominate, such as Morello cherry ("griotte", or wild cherry), raspberry, blackberry. There are hints of complexity with smoky flavours evolving towards liquorice. When the wine is maturing, aromas of pepper, tobacco, humus and undergrowth appear. When drinking the wine, the first impression is always clear-cut and the texture fleshy. The body is firm without being rough, well meshed without being heavy. There is great freshness in the younger wines. With age, the wine gets rounder. It takes on "gras" (velvety texture) and a more precise architecture, supported by silky tannins. It is lively and refined at the same time. There remains a final and most pleasing sensation of harmony, fullness and delicate tannins, as the wine lingers on the palate.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A really concentrated but very graceful Beaune 1er Cru. Very subtle nose of red fruit with nice floral notes and discreet spicy oak. Glides over the palate, the fine tannins already beautifully integrated. Very long, silky finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe, juicy yellow-plum and pear flavors are calibrated by a fresh mineral undertone in this voluptuous expression of one of Burgundy’s most celebrated vineyards. Matured 12–15 months in 25% new oak, it’s a big, powerful wine adorned in layers of sweet spice, smoke and dill undertones, but held upright by a spine of acidity. The wine needs some time to meld but should drink at peak from 2025 and hold longer still. Cellar Selection
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Jasper Morris
Bright pale to mid yellow. One of the more exuberant bouquets with fully ripe fruit, a little grenadine, then more restrained on the palate with weight and length. Impeccably balanced, fresh yet ripe apple, a stylish balanced wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches (Domaine) is very pretty, wafting from the glass with aromas of raspberries, cherries, peonies and orange rind that are more red-fruity and ethereal than I remember from barrel. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, it's sumptuous and elegant, with melting tannins, succulent acids and an expansive finish. Readers might think of the 2019 as a slightly richer, riper version of the lovely 2017.
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.