Domaine de la Vougeraie - Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2016

Det mesta av vinet som produceras i den lilla byn Vougeot kommer från en enda och mycket berömd grand cru vingård: Clos de Vougeot. Vingården i sin nuvarande form är från 1336 (när den först planterades av cisterciensermunkarna). Cisterciensermunkarna skötte marken i 680 år och vinet från det blev så känt för sin särskilt höga kvalitet att det så småningom blev känt som en idealisk gåva för påvar och kungar om man ville uppnå något. Clos de Vougeot är den största "clos" (vingård omgiven av en mur) i Cote d'Or. Den består av 50 hektar vinodlingar med sex typer mark som ägs av 82 ägare. Att Clos de Vougeot är något mycket speciellt beskrivs perfekt av Karen Blixen i Babettes gäst: "Vad finns i den här flaskan, Babette?" frågade hon med en osäker röst. "Det är inte vin, eller hur?" "Vin, fru?" ropade Babette. "Nej, fru! Det är en Clos de Vougeot 1846!". Doften är som en infusion av röda bär som vinbär, hallon och tranbär med inslag av rosenblad och en underliggande fin mineralnote. Medelfyllig med lager på lager av frukt, stort djup, fin friskhet och silkeslen finish. Ett otroligt välbalanserat, elegant och förföriskt vin. Toppklass Bourgogne!

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The 2016 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru has a very elegant and poised bouquet, fine transparency here with superb delineation, not powerful but very precise and almost understated in style. The palate is medium-bodied with a pleasant chewiness to the tannin, good body, more assertive in the mouth than on the nose with a chalky texture toward the finish. Good length, lean and poised but fanning out with confidence—what a sublime expression of this famous vineyard.

The big news earlier this year was winemaker Pierre Vincent’s move from Domaine de la Vougeraie to Domaine Leflaive. When key personnel transfer to another company, then it is bound to cause concern about the continued success. Pierre had been instrumental in improving the wines at Vougeraie over his 11-year tenure. Previously, the wines had been rather overextracted and Pierre imbued them with more terroir expression, greater restraint and more class. It was no surprise that Leflaive snapped him up. Winemakers come and go, but the vines stay the same. When I asked about who was taking Pierre’s place, I was informed that rather than highlighting a single person, they would prefer to emphasize that there is a winemaking team, obligatory when you have such a diaspora of vineyards the length and breadth of the region. 

“We used more whole bunches to gain more complexity,” François, one of their winemaking team told me and, indeed, examining the list of wines I can see that several cuvées include 100% whole bunch, even the entry-level "Terres de Famille" red includes 30%. “We found this gave more balance in the reds. We had good results [using whole bunch] with the 2015 and so tried to do the same with 2016. The yields were low and the concentration of the grapes was good. We lost 55% of the production because of frost and lost our Beaune Grèves and Beaune Clos du Roi entirely, although Les Damodes, Le Petit Noizon and Les Clos Blanc did not suffer damage. We started the picking on 15 September with the whites with the Les Clos Blanc. We did a small pigéage. I did not want a brutal extraction, so I used lower fermentation temperatures. The wines are all matured using one-third new, one-third one-year and one-third two-year oak, racked from barrel by barrel, from new into used barrels. I found that the malolactic fermentation in 2016 was longer than in 2015. The wines were racked just before harvest, and I will bottle them a little later in April 2018 rather than end February.” 

With such a wide array of propitious parcels scattered all across the Côte d'Or there is always bound to be a clutch of great wines from Domaine de la Vougeraie. Add into the mix the frost and mildew and ineluctably you will get a lot of variation in quality, and that is the case here. There are crus that I felt were discombobulated by the growing season and only just managed to stumble across the finish line, others that are quite brilliant, both white and red. I will leave readers to peruse the reviews. Buy carefully, and you might have a great and, dare I say, well-priced wine on your hands.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate