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 flavors evolving towards licorice. 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
Beautiful nose of wild raspberries, cherries, sandalwood, cloves, orange fruit and cardamom. So harmonious on the palate, with very fine, seamless tannins and fresh acidity, all integrated. Medium-bodied, long and full of energy. Drink or hold.
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Decanter
Drouhin makes both red and white wine from the Clos des Mouches; the red is particularly good value. The 2021 vintage has good colour and ripe black cherry aromas, liquorice, and earth. The texture is velvety and rich, with firm tannins and good length. The grapes come from 6.82 hectares of vines at the southern end of Beaune. The grapes are partly destemmed and fermented on native yeast before ageing in cask. The supple nature of the wine will make it approachable in a few years, and it should age for another twenty beyond that in a proper cellar.
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Jasper Morris
Fortunately, the yield was better in red than white! A solid red crimson color. Peppery notes, the whole bunches more evident than on the Cras. Good supple tannins here and then with a livelier finish, perhaps thanks to the stems. Fine, persistent red fruit. Drink from 2025-2030.
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Wine Spectator
Rich, this is pierced with cherry, vanilla and toasty oak flavors and savory notes of sandalwood and green olive. Tightly grained, with firm tannins and a compact, mineral finish. Best from 2028 through 2045. 220 cases imported.
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.