Beaune 1er Cru “Les Grèves” Reviews

Bright medium red. Aromas of redcurrant, cherry and spices. Offers more energy and definition than the Clos du Roi, with higher-pitched flavors of spices and red fruits. A juicy Beaune wine with a touch of youthful bitterness on the back end, but sound acids and tannins give grip to the finish.

The 2012 Beaune Les Grèves is incredibly powerful and energetic in this vintage. Dark red and black cherries, smoke and tobacco emerge from the glass over time, but today it is the wine's tannin and overall structure that dominate. The Grèves is likely to

This has the earthern cool of cave, its bright red cherry flavors shaded toward dark rose and smoky tannins. Quiet rather than flash, this has enough flavor concentration and spicy tannins to develop over the next several years.

There is a touch of wood spice that combines with notably floral and very pretty red berry scents. There is good punch to the markedly firm medium-bodied flavors that possess good power, fine depth and impressive persistence. This is a classic Grèves, which is to say rugged and robust without being rustic.

A distinctly ripe yet attractive fresh nose of red and black cherry fruit and warm earth aromas introduce attractively textured, round, rich, supple and focused middle weight flavors. There is a fine sense of underlying tension to the firmly structured finish but there is plenty of buffering sap and excellent length. This offers fine development potential.

A discreet touch of wood sets off notably ripe, earthy and brooding aromas of red currants, plum and a hint of stone. The rich and relatively powerful flavors also evidence a lovely minerality on the driving and impressively persistent finish. This is excellent and well worth considering.

The 2009 Beaune Greves is one of the darker, more brooding wines at La Vougeraie. Smoke, licorice and goudron are some of the nuances that flow from this intense red. Hints of crushed rocks frame the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2022. Biodynamic farming and non-interventionalist winemaking are at the heart of the approach at Domaine de la Vougeraie. The 2009s saw roughly a 25 days of maceration (including a week of cold soak) with one punch down a day. Once in barrel racking was kept to a bare minimum. A number of wines were bottled in late 2010 and early 2011. I tasted these wines with winemaker Pierre Vincent in March 2011.

Mild reduction knocks down the nose but there is good vitality and freshness to the round, rich, supple and focused middle weight flavors that poses good focus and firm structure but there is plenty of buffering sap and excellent length. This offers fine development potential and is worth considering. 2016+