Winemaker Notes
The deep garnet-colored 2020 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru offers a floral nose with spices and blackcurrant aromas. On the palate, it is a very fresh, full and round wine with silky tannins and toasty notes. Very good length.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dive into this fjord of perfectly ripe black fruit and this enormous pile of very fine tannins. So much vitality, in spite of the concentration on the full but definitely not opulent body. Clove and cardamon at the very expressive, long finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
A floral-herbaceous nose is followed by a layer of black currants in this voluptuous expression. Dense and rich, with a perfume of rose and blood-orange peel enveloping firm, yet deep and brooding black cherries and thyme, the palate welcomes freshness with plum and black sanguine berry, framed with toasty notes.
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Wine Spectator
This red is focused on pure fruit flavors of black cherry, blackberry and black currant, shaded with violet and earth accents. Firm, with youthfully assertive tannins guarding the finish. Best from 2025 through 2040.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Maison Louis Latour Clos Vougeot is authentic from start to finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of rustic earthiness, black fruits, dried leaves, and oak nuances. Pair a well-appointed charcuterie tray. (Tasted May 10, 2023, San Rafael, CA)
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.