Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru Reviews

The black cherry core is framed by vanilla and smoky oak notes in this powerful, beefy red. The tannins dominate the ripe fruit at this stage, contributing to a raw finish. The elements are all there, but this needs time to come together in the cellar.

Year's Best Burgundy (Oct 2013). Vougeraie owns close to 2.5 acres of vines in Clos de Vougeot, in the northwest sector of the vineyard, including several blocks planted in the late 1940s and early '50s. Farmed under biodynamics since 2001, the vines produce a true grand cru wine, the 2010 seductive and monastically severe at once. Its scen is awsome: the perfume of the arth after a rain, the essence of cherries and pressed flowers. The flavor is dense, a youthfully blank slate that fills with the interplay of sun and earth as the complexity develops for minutes after each taste. Check on this with ten years of bottle age; it's destined for greatness.

Medium red. Expressive aromas of strawberry, earth and game, lifted by a subtle floral element. Broad and rich on the palate, but with good focus to the red fruit and smoky earth flavors. Finishes with substantial dusty but fine-grained tannins and excellent length. Boasts plenty of early sweetness but I'd lay it down for six or seven years.

The black cherry core is framed by vanilla and smoky oak notes in this powerful, beefy red. The tannins dominate the ripe fruit at this stage, contributing to a raw finish. The elements are all there, but this needs time to come together in the cellar. Best from 2017 through 2035.

A fine bouquet of perfectly ripe fruit with a red berry character extends to a complex and aromatic palate, with finesse and great length.

The 2010 Clos de Vougeot possesses stunning textural depth and richness. Layers of dark red fruit, smoke, licorice and sweet spices are woven together beautifully in the glass. The energy and wiriness of Vougeot is palpable, but there is more than enough fruit to fill out the wine’s broad shoulders. This is another fabulous effort. The domaine has two parcels in Clos Vougeot: a 1.2 hectare parcel next to the chateau and a second smaller parcel measuring 0.23 hectares on the bottom part of the vineyard by the main road. Anticipated maturity: 2025-2045. This is stunning set of wines from Pierre Vincent and Domaine de la Vougeraie. It is impossible to miss the attention to detail at this impeccably run domaine. No expense is spared. It takes 80 people to work the vineyards during harvest and another 20 in the cellar to take it from there. Production in 2010 was of course down significantly as it was everywhere else. Yields came in at 24 hectoliters per hectare for the Pinot and 29 for the Chardonnay. Vincent used between 30-80% whole bunches, depending on the wine. Readers who want to learn more might want to check out my video interview with Pierre Vincent on www.erobertparker.com. I will report on the domaine’s 2009s in the April issue. For now let me just say the 2009 Musigny is one of the wines of the vintage.

Moderate reduction renders the nose difficult to assess other than to observe a bit of wood spice and aromas that appear to be notably ripe. There is by contrast plenty of verve and power to the brooding, dense and well-muscled flavors that possess ripe and very firm supporting tannins and outstanding length. Vincent noted that he believes that this is the best Clos de Vougeot that he has ever made and I would have to agree that at this early juncture, it is the most promising example that I have tasted at this address.