Winemaker Notes
A revelation and a true wonder! The ruby red colour is magnificent and takes on a deeper hue with age. The aromas are intense and evoke raspberry and wild cherry, becoming more complex with age: undergrowth, truffle, candied fruit. A sublime structure, with refined tannins. It is a perfect example of this ideal of elegance according to Drouhin. A remarkable balance and a lingering persistence of flavors on the palate. It is a wine that always leaves the greatest impression.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, Drouhin's 2014 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is a wine that I might have underestimated from barrel, or perhaps it has just blossomed in bottle. It has a conservative bouquet that needs coaxing from the glass: red cherries, strawberry, scorched earth and just a touch of vanilla from the residual new oak waiting to be subsumed. The palate is medium-bodied with finely tuned tannin and bright red fruit, tensile and poised with a taut, quite linear finish that has class and refinement. This was one of the best in the flight of Clos de Vougeot, and I scored this even higher than Etienne Grivot's. Tasted September 2017.
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James Suckling
This is surprisingly open with spice, berry and chocolate aromas and flavors. Medium body. Almond, dark-fruit and Spanish-cedar character.
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.