Winemaker Notes
The wines offer a delicate and airy nose composed of diverse fresh fruits. On the palate, the balance is perfect. The tannins are fine and satiny and the length is impressive. This is true elegance!
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
One parcel, planted with 80-year-old vines and planted in the middle of the Clos, supplies the grapes for this intense, expansively oaked wine. It's powerful, concentrated and rigorous yet far from jammy or over-ripe, with impressive concentration and balance supported by granular tannins.
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Wine Spectator
Saturated with black cherry, blackberry, iron, earth and subtle black pepper aromas and flavors, this red exudes power and confidence, backed by dense yet well-integrated tannins. The finish echoes the concentrated fruit and vibrant profile. Best from 2023 through 2045.
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.