CLOS VOUGEOT
2014 Grand Cru Domaine Joseph Drouhin
Just one parcel - by the little tower in front of the Château. Rich nose with lots of little red and black fruit. Complex and spicy. Nice tension, firm finish. Sweetness of very ripe fruits all the way through. Lots of power on the finish. Drinking range: 2023 - L&S (Nov 2015)
75cl bottles (wood case of 6)
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Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2014 tasting, Drouhin's 2014 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is a wine that I might have underestimated from barrel, or perhaps it has just blossomed in bottle. It has a conservative bouquet that needs coaxing from the glass: red cherries, strawberry, scorched earth and just a touch of vanilla from the residual new oak waiting to be subsumed. The palate is medium-bodied with finely tuned tannin and bright red fruit, tensile and poised with a taut, quite linear finish that has class and refinement. This was one of the best in the flight of Clos de Vougeot, and I scored this even higher than Etienne Grivot's. Tasted September 2017. Drinking range: 2019 - 2039 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2017)
This is surprisingly open with spice, berry and chocolate aromas and flavors. Medium body. Almond, dark-fruit and Spanish-cedar character. Drink or hold. Drinking range: 2017 - Rating: 93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2017)
(Drouhin works with a parcel near the little tower in front of the chateau and another in the southeast section of the cru but in 2014 only kept the tower portion and sold off the rest): Medium bright red. Complex nose melds plum, red cherry, licorice, pepper and herbs. Juicy and firm-edged; more minerally, tight and backward than the preceding 2014s. Shows a slight medicinal reserve and finishes with dustier tannins than the Clos de Bèze but also good length. This precise, energetic wine will need time in bottle to blossom and gain in complexity. Drinking range: 2024 - 2033 Rating: 91+ Stephen Tanzer, www.vinousmedia.com (Mar 2017)
(Drouhin owns .91 ha in two parcels that are rarely blended as the lower portion is typically sold and such was the case in 2014). Here the surprisingly spicy nose consists of deft wood and ripe dark berries along with ample amounts of earth and sauvage hints. The full-bodied and overtly powerful flavors possess excellent size and weight as well as fine mid-palate concentration that help to buffer the very firm tannic spine that shapes the youthfully austere finish. Patience is very definitely required as this should age effortlessly for years. 2029+ Rating: 93 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Apr 2016)
The Drouhins own two parcels of Clos de Vougeot, but sell one of them, keeping the other that’s close to the tower. This is a medium weight example of the Grand Cru that’s showing a fair bit of oak, but will integrate in bottle. Smoky, textured and subtle, with attractive bramble and red berry flavours. 2019-28 Drinking range: 2019 - 2028 Rating: 94 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Jan 2016)
Domaine Joseph Drouhin
Joseph Drouhin, founded in 1880 and still family owned, are one of the most well-respected names in Burgundy, especially through their flagship wine, the iconic Clos des Mouches.
A huge part of the Drouhin production comes from their own domaine fruit (78 hectares), and much of the rest comes from contracts such as that with the Marquis de Laguiche, who shook hands with the grandfather of the current generation, agreeing to let him manage his vineyards which included an important part of Le Montrachet; this collaboration endures. Today, the fourth generation is at the helm
Small refinements continue to be made here. The presses have been changed - a reversion to basket pressing for the reds, and for whites the presses are open - along with a number of other growers they are following the trend to think that slight oxidation of the juice before fermentation is not a problem and may add complexity as well as avoiding later problems of premature oxidation in bottle.
For the reds there has been the introduction of selective whole-bunch fermentation in the Côte de Nuits wines. The house style remains one that 'emphasises the natural elegance of great Burgundies' as they describe it. The domaine is all cultivated with an organic and biodynamic approach.