Fragrant and supple, exuding strawberry, cherry, rose, sandalwood and cardamom flavors. Elegant in feel, harmonious and charming. - Bruce Sanderson
Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru Reviews
Moderate reduction again holds sway over the fruit at present. By contrast, there is excellent verve, volume and concentration to the large-scaled flavors that also flash evident power on the compact, serious and youthfully austere finish that is also a bit Cistercian.
Fragrant and supple in texture, exuding wild strawberry, cherry, rose, sandalwood and cardamom aromas and flavors. Elegant in feel, with ample tannins for support and a vibrant, extensive aftertaste. Harmonious and charming, yet the length of the finish is what defines its pedigree. Best from 2027 through 2045.
Toasty and leesy, with generous minerality underlying apple, lime and citronella aromas and flavors. Sleek and well-defined, with a virbrant aftertaste of citrus, orchard fruit, stone and spices. - Bruce Sanderson
Though this red is oaky, there's also a whole-cluster feel to it, with sandalwood and vegetal aromas synching with flavors of black currant and blackberry. Iron and sweet baking spices chime in as this plays out on the lingering aftertaste, showing fine balance. Best from 2026 through 2045. - Bruce Sanderson
The Boisset family domaine, based in Vougeot, included some white parcels with long histories tied to the Abbaye de Cîteaux, as well as some prime plots of pinot noir. Their main parcel, 2.59 acres, is close to the top of the vineyard, with vines dating from the 1940s and ’50s to the early ’90s. A second parcel, at the bottom of the Clos, is just under an acre of vines planted in the mid-’80s. Their biodynamically farmed fruit comes together in a fragrant 2019, subtle rather than super-concentrated, bright, and rose-scented. Instead of weight, it offers length, continuing for minutes as it will continue for years in the cellar.
Expressive, spicy and silky, with berry and cherry fruit wrapped in toasty, vanilla-tinged oak. Firm yet elegant, with a layer of dusty tannins; however, the lasting impression is ripe fruit and an underlying mineral element. Just needs tiem. Best from 2026 through 2045.
Expressive, spicy and silky, with berry and cherry fruit wrapped in toasty, vanilla-tinged oak. Firm yet elegant, with a layer of dusty tannins; however, the lasting impression is ripe fruit and an underlying mineral element. Just needs time. Best from 2026 through 2045. —B.S.
The 2015 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru offers up a sapid bouquet of grilled game bird, espresso roast, wild plums and dark berries. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and velvety, with real mid-palate substance, supple, melting tannins and impressive reserves of concentration and depth despite its elegant, understated profile. The finish is long, precise and succulent. From bottle, the Clos de Vougeot is one of the most promising wines from Domaine de la Vougeraie.
Complex aromas and flavors of red berry, sandalwood, vanilla, floral and mineral are alluring, made all the more appealing by the elegant frame and vivid structure. Silky and harmonious enough to drink now, but this should really sing in five to seven years. Offers a fine, smoky finish.
Most of this wine comes from a parcel near the top of the vineyard, at the corner just below the alley that leads to the entrance of the Château du Clos de Vougeot; a smaller portion comes from the base of the vineyard, both parcels farmed under biodynamics since 2001. This is more powerful than many wines from this large grand cru, potently reduced so that it’s more feral animal and tar than fruit for now. Underneath that dark funk there’s a youthful floral note that lasts, waiting to emerge more fully as the wine resolves with age.
Complex aromas and flavors of red berry, sandalwood, vanilla, floral and mineral are alluring, made all the more appealing by the elegant frame and vivid structure. Silky and harmonious enough to drink now, but this should really sing in five to seven years. Offers a fine, smoky finish. Best from 2023 through 2040.
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.
Red Sweet vanilla, butterscotch and milk chocolate notes give way to cherry and spice flavors in this tightly wound red. The oak is dominant now, but there is a lot going on. The finish is long, ending with ripe fruit.
Deep medium red. Subdued but pretty aromas of dark cherry, wild herbs and licorice. Broad and silky on entry, then much more dense and backward in the middle palate; the largest-scaled of the Domaine de la Vougeraie 2015s to this point but very slow to evolve. The slightly medicinal finish displays substantial dusty tannins and a strong licorice quality. Still quite reserved but very pure, spicy and long. In fact, this wine seemed to gain in power after I spit it. Vincent ranks this wine with 2014 and 2010 as his favorite vintages here for Clos Vougeot, but it will require considerable patience. -- Stephen Tanzer
A restrained and discreetly floral-inflected nose features ripe plum and black berry liqueur aromas along with plenty of earth character. The broad-scaled, rich and intense broad-shouldered flavors evidence a sleek muscularity on the long, punchy and moderately austere finish. This is relatively fine for a youth Clos de Vougeot and that should enable it to be approachable young even though it should easily improve for 15 to 20 years.
Good medium red. Musky, slightly rustic nose shows more red than black fruits, with complicating notes of underbrush, herbs and pepper. Very rich, tactile, dry and backward, showing more minerality and medicinal reserve than primary berry or cherry fruit in the early going. Tough going today in spite of its depth of texture and richness. Not at all a sweet style. Vincent told me he prefers the easier sweetness of the 2014, noting that, in general, he regards the 2010 vintage as the best compromise between sweetness and energy since he took over winemaking here in 2006. — Stephen Tanzer
The 2014 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru includes 70% whole cluster fruit this year. It has a well defined nose that perhaps does not quite deliver the complexity that I was expecting. It needs a little more precision and mineralité. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, here, showing the detail and the class that I would like to see expressed aromatically. Nicely weighted on the finish with a hint of orange zest, this will hopefully turn out to be a fine Clos Vougeot...just so long as the nose puts its house in order.
GOLD
A highly floral nose combines notes of red berries and discreet spice elements with soil, game and humus undertones.
The broad-shouldered flavors possess an unusually supple mid-palate that possesses fine concentration before culminating
in a vibrant and intense finish that delivers fine length. Despite being approachable there is a firm core of supporting tannins
and this will need all of 12 years or so to fully resolve them.
Healthy bright red. Musky aromas of dark cherry, wild herbs and smoky minerality. Concentrated and sweet, with pronounced soil tones to the strawberry and game flavors. Finishes juicy and very long, with building but fully ripe tannins. Since 2009 this cuvée has had a healthy level of acidity thanks to organic farming, noted Vincent. The estate's two parcels of Clos-Vougeot were blended just a week before my visit. Highly promising.