Press Room

Domaine de la Vougeraie Reviews

Score: 90 | November 30, 2016 | Wine Advocate

Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting in Beaune, the 2013 Bonnes Mares Grand Cru was missing some complexity on the nose compared to the Bonnes-Mares from Bruno Clair, with sweet red cherries and a touch of kirsch. Yet it needs to show more mineralité and terroir expression. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe red cherries and strawberry and showing quite a lot of structure towards the finish that grips the palate. I would just like more persistence to show through here. Tasted September 2016.

Score: 90 | October 1, 2016 | Wine & Spirits

The standout among all the Bourgogne rouge we tasted for this issue, this smells like Burgundy ("Tart and stinky," said Sarah Looper of SevenFifty.com. Burgundy needs to stink. It shouldn't smell like the buxom fruit of California.") It's a blend focoused on clay soils, from two parcels in Gilly-lès-Citeaux (east of the D974, near Vougeot and Chambolle), and two parcels in Beaune (one-quarter of the blend comes from Montèe Rouge, where the vines date to the early 1950s). Harmonious, red fruited, with bright sour cherry flavors, delicate herb flavor tannins and meaty notes, this is soft on acidity in the end, even as the aroma draws you back for another sip. 

Score: 93 | October 1, 2016 | Wine & Spirits

This 7.4-acre clos rises toward the top of the hill just north of the village; half of the vines date back to 1975, the other half were replanted in 2013. The vineyards chalky soils, organically farmed and certified since 2000, built a wine with a tense floral buzz. Its vibrant, vibrating flavors of forest mushrooms, raspberries and raspberry seeds feel more umami than fruity, restrained by powerful tannins that slowly release the equally powerful fruit. It continues to reveal layer upon layer of flavor as the inner strength of the wine shows its potential for long aging. 

Score: 90 | October 1, 2016 | Wine & Spirits

Catch this as a young wine, while the tension in its structure elevates the delicate dried herb notes, and Brett adds detail to the tannins, a little dry, but spicy and delicious. Packed with a sweet cherry fruit, this is solidly built Gevrey, ready to drink with a steak. 

Score: 92 | June 30, 2016 | Wine Spectator

Like liquid candy, this combines lemon cake, apple, floral and spice flavors seamlessly, with fine underlying structure. Harmonious and long, echoing with spice on the finish. —B.S.

Score: 90 | June 30, 2016 | Wine Spectator

Lime and lime blossom aromas lead off, with apple, lemon and spice notes underneath. Though on the slim, linear side, this is balanced and ends with a chalky feel. Drink now through 2019.  —B.S.

Score: Gold | March 16, 2016 | TEXSOM International Wine Awards
Score: 93 | March 14, 2016 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

Healthy dark red. Superripe, liqueur-like aromas of red cherry, damp earth, tobacco and dried rose. Lush, sweet and rich but also very pure, conveying a strong impression of terroir to its powerful flavors of dark fruits, minerals, spices and Gevrey earth. Turns drier and more classic on the back end. A very dense example of Charmes-Chambertin, but then these vines are in Mazoyères. Finishes with an enticing combination of sweetness and firm minerality. — Stephen Tanzer

Score: 91+ | March 14, 2016 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

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

Score: 91+ | March 14, 2016 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

Good medium red. Cool, medicinal black cherry, blueberry and violet on the nose. Concentrated, ripe and sappy, showing excellent texture and intense spice character for the vintage. Finishes juicy and long, with some very ripe chocolate tones and big, tactile tannins that avoid dryness. This will need patience. —Stephen Tanzer

Score: 87 | June 11, 2015 | Burghound

Here too there are notes of petrol and citrus on the pear and apple suffused aromas. The round and seductively textured flavors possess a clean, simple and dry finish. Once again, this very forward and refreshing effort is basically ready to drink.

Score: 88 | June 11, 2015 | Burghound

A slightly more elegant nose offers up a broader array of lemon peel and soft oak nuances. The delicious and nicely vibrant middle weight flavors evidence more depth on the equally forward but not really soft flavors that should also drink well early on. 

Score: 87 | June 11, 2015 | Burghound

Soft notes of petrol sit atop the mostly floral and white orchard fruit scents. The rich, round and very generously proportioned flavors are forward o the point of being almost soft and this easy-to-like effort should drink well immediately. 

Score: 91-94 | June 11, 2015 | Burghound

The nose is presently dominated by residual lactic aromas that mask the underlying fruit. This too possesses terrific intensity along with impressive size, weight and power while culminating in an even more linear and compact finish. While blessed with strikingly good underlying material, this too is going to require a long snooze in a cold cellar to realize its full and considerable potential. Patience absolutely required. 

June 2, 2015 | International Wine Challenge

GOLD

May 29, 2015 | Decanter World Wine Awards

GOLD

Score: 88 | January 17, 2015 | Burghound

 A distinctly sauvage nose reflects notes of dried flowers, damp earth and a very fresh mix of both red and
dark pinot fruit scents. There is fine precision and lovely punch to the medium weight and lightly stony
flavors that are supported by relatively fine tannins on the saline-inflected and persistent finish.
This is slightly finer than it usually is and should drink well after only a few years of bottle age.

Score: 87-89 | January 17, 2015 | Burghound

A more deeply pitched and markedly earthier nose exhibits notes of various
dark berries and a hint of herbal tea. There is reasonably good depth to the
round and punchy flavors that deliver acceptable persistence on the dusty
and relatively fine finish. There is a hint of dryness but it’s discreet.

Score: 89-92 | January 17, 2015 | Burghound

Here too there is a gentle but not imperceptible application of wood outlining the more deeply pitched dark currant,
earth and softly game suffused aromas. The rich full-bodied flavors possess good power and punch where the
textured, intense and palate coating finish is blessed with plenty of tannin-buffering dry extract.This won’t win
any awards for refinement but I like the frank and direct character that is very Nuits.

Score: 88-91 | January 17, 2015 | Burghound

 A notably floral nose displays a wonderfully fresh and cool mélange of red pinot fruit, wet stone, earth and a hint of herbal tea.
There is excellent intensity to the chiseled, intense and overtly saline medium-bodied flavors that display ample minerality on
the clean, focused and lingering finale. This not necessarily finer than the La Justice but there is more here.

Score: 89-91 | January 17, 2015 | Burghound

 A very fresh and mildly sauvage noseoffers up mostly dark berry fruit scents that are deftly trimmed in just enough wood to
warrant remarking upon. There is good punch and detail to the overtly stony and delicious middle weight flavors that
possess a seductive mid-palate yet the finish tightens up quickly as it displays hints of both austerity and rusticity.
This balanced effort is richer than the En Foule but interestingly, it’s a bit less complex, at least at present.

Score: 88-91 | January 17, 2015 | Burghound

A subtle application of wood serves as a relatively neutral backdrop for the intensely earthy
dark berry aromas that introduce mineral and soil-inflected middle weight flavors that possess a lovely sense of underlying
tension, all wrapped in a serious, intense and lingering finish. There is a hint of dryness but in this case there is a plausible
chance that it will dissipate once this has been bottled.
 

Score: 87-89 | January 1, 2015 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

Bright red. Musky, lightly leesy aromas of strawberry and garrigue. Supple red cherry fruit shows an almost liqueur-like ripeness. This rather creamy Pommard finishes with substantial ripe tannins.

Score: 93-96 | January 1, 2015 | Vinous/Antonio Galloni

Deep red with ruby tones. Knockout nose offers kaleidoscopic scents of raspberry, blood orange, crushed rock and pepper complicated by torrefaction notes of cocoa and mocha and lifted by lilac and rose petal. Incredibly silky on entry, then expands and builds in the middle palate, with an element of noble vegetility adding another dimension to the flavors of fruits, flowers and stone. Superb acidity here, which Pierre Vincent says is due to "the concentration of all of the wine's elements." Finishes with outstanding peppery energy and lift: one of the longest wines of my November tour and nearly impossible to spit. There are just three barrels of this elixir: one new, one one year old and one two years old. Built for a long life in bottle.

Score: (93-95) | December 29, 2014 | Wine Advocate

Now labeled just “Charlemagne” sans its prefix, which its two plots are perfectly entitled to, the 2013 Charlemagne Grand Cru was 80% damaged by the hail storm, which equates to four barrels. It has a well-defined, lightly honeyed bouquet with fine definition and intensity. The palate is vibrant with convincing mineralité, just a touch of reduction lending complexity with very good weight on the sour-lemon finish. Excellent.