Clos De Vougeot - 2005
Burgundy is light on images. While in Bordeaux most of the château facades are known to wine-lovers all over the world, for the images are depicted on the labels on the bottles, Burgundy has only two immediately recognizable to outsiders: the interior courtyard of the Hospices in Beaune, and the Château of the Clos de Vougeot.
Like much of Burgundy, the origins of the Clos de Vougeot are ecclesiastical. In 1098, Robert, Abbot of the Clunaic Benedictine abbey of Molesmes, near Langres, north of Dijon, decided to form a new order. He felt strongly that the original virtues of poverty, chastity and obedience, laid down by the founding saint, had become too relaxed. The top ecclesiastics slept in comfortable beds, wore sumptuous clothes, and eat and drank like gluttons. Nor, it seems, were they very enthusiastic about celibacy. Robert only managed to persuade some 20 of his order to join him, but they duly left Molesmes and settled in marshy land some 15 kilometres east of Nuis-Saint-Georges. From the Latin name of the reeds (cistus) which surrounded their new monastery came the name of this new order: the Cistercians. Not having suitable land in the vicinity for the vine, the monks followed a little river, the Vouge, upstream until they reached the Côte. There amongst the mixed farming prevalent at the time, they saw vines. They bought a parcel of land, enclosed it within a wall, and set about constructing a winery and living quarters for those who would be responsible on the spot for tending the vines and making the wine. This edifice, much modified since, is today's Château du Clos de Vougeot.
The vineyard remained in church ownership, if not in ecclesiastical management, for parcels had been rented off to local laymen, until the French Revolution. Like most of the land owned by the church the Clos was sequestered by the state, and on January 17th., 1791 it was auctioned off to a Jean Foquard, a Parisian banker. He failed to settle the bill, and the authorities were forced to ask the old cellar master to continue to run the estate while they sought an owner with more reliable finances. Eventually the Clos passed to Jules Ouvrard, local deputé in the post-Restoration parliament, and also owner of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. This wine was made at the Clos.
Ouvrard died in 1860, and the Clos was divided into six parts to enable it to be sold. Six soon became fifteen, and inexorably the Clos became more and more morcellated. Today there are over 80 proprietors and some 120 different parcels. The Château belongs to the local wine promotional organisation, the Chevaliers du Tastevin.
The Clos de Vougeot is notorious for being a grand cru whose land stretches all the way down to the main Nuits-Dijon highway. Surely, we argue, the land at the bottom cannot produce grand cru wine? On either side we have mere village Vougeot or Vosne-Romanée. Of course this is an anomaly. But today it is set in stone and there is little we can do about it. And as Jean Grivot, who has vines which stretch up from the main road about two-fifths of the way up, will point out: 'When the weather is hot you need fruit from the more humid, water-retaining lower slopes. When the weather is against you you need the better drained upslope wines.' Back in the middle ages, as today at Maximin Grunhaus in the Moselle, we are told that there were three cuvées of Clod de Vougeot: that from the upper part, reserved for the Abbot and favoured guests, that from the middle, for the monks, and that from the lower slopes, sold off in bulk.
The largest owner of land within the Clos today is the Château de la Tour, with almost fine and a half hectares out of just over 50. Theirs is the only wine matured and bottled within the Clos, in a nasty 19th. century building of no architectural merit whatsoever situated half way up the slope on the northern side. The wine used to be good, fell off a bit, but is now improving. This is the only proprietor to offer a vieilles vignes as well as a normal cuvée. Others with more than one hectare whose wines can be recommended include Méo-Camuzet, Louis Jadot, Leroy, Grivot, Gros Frère et Soeur, the Domaine de la Vougeraie, the Domaine Eugenie (Engel as was), Lamarche, Faiveley and Drouhin-Laroze.
Those with less than one hectare that I would look out for include: Hudelot-Noëllat, Arnoux, Bertagna, Bouchard Père et Fils, Confuron-Coteditot, J.J. Confuron, Drouhin, Clos Frantin (Albert Bichot), Anne Gros, Michel Gros, Denis Mortet, Mugneret-Gibourg and Thibaut Liger-Belair.
Clos de Vougeot is rarely a really great wine. I can only remember two such bottles: a 1937 Camuzet (predecessor of today's Méo-Camuzet, and Jean Gros' (father of Michel) 1985, the last vintage from vines planted in 1902. I still have a couple of bottles of this. No, Clos de Vougeot is a second division grand cru. But it is ample and generous, succulent and slightly spicy, and should be thoroughly enjoyable. In a great vintage such as 2005, there were a very latge number of lovely wines.
The following samples of Clos de Vougeot, 2005 were tasted in Burgundy in February 2010 by myself and the proprietors themselves. It was a root day, though clear and sunny. This meant that the fuller-bodied wines tended to be a bit closed and clumsy. It made the tasting harder work than usual.
ArnouxFrom 2015Good colour. Ripe, plump nose. High quality. Fresh and concentrated but not hard or aggressive. Medium-full body. Good ripe tannins. Plenty of energy. Rich, balanced and stylish. Very fine.
Bouchard Père et FilsFrom 2013Medium to medium-full colour. Quite an evolved nose. Not as substantial as some. But ripe and balanced and attractive. Medium to medium-full body. Good acidity. Fruity but without quite enough depth, concentration and, in paticular, intensity. Elegant and harmonious though. Very good plus.
Philippe CharlopinFrom 2014Good colour. Fullish, quite tannic nose. Just a little stewed. Plus a touch of reduction as it developed. Medium-full body. Some tannin but not too aggressively so on the palate. Good grip. But a touch four-square and a slight lack of richness. Very good.
J. J. ConfuronFrom 2013Medium colour. Fresh, medium weight, fruity nose. Quite oaky. Very stylish without being a blockbuster. Ripe, fresh, succulent and seductive. Balanced and positive at the end. Very good indeed.
Joseph DrouhinFrom 2014We had two bottles and they were both corked. But I managed to assess the second before the corkiness dominated the wine too much: Medium colour. Graceful, fruity nose. Not a blackbuster but intense and fragrant. Medium to medium-full body. Very ripe and harmonious. Lovely complex fruit. Seductive. Long and full of interest.
R. Dubois et FilsFrom 2017Very good colour. Lovely rich, full, concentrated, high-class nose. Multi-dimensional fruit. Lots of vigour and promise. Full body. Good tannins. A wine of depth and backbone which needs time. Splendid finish. Excellent.
Joseph FaiveleyFrom 2016Good colour. Very elegant, composed, fullish nose. Lots of depth and dimension here. Lovely fruit. Full body. Very good grip. Classy tannins. Profound and concentrated. Lots of energy and a lovely long finish. Very fine.
Francois GerbetFrom 2016Good colour. Ripe nose. Some tannin here. And a touch of gingerbread. Slightly earthy. Fullish body. Quite tannic. Needs time. Good grip. This is a chunky example. There is no lack of depth and dimension, but a slight absence of richness. Very good at best.
Jean GrivotFrom 2017Every time I went back to this wine I marked it higher. Knowing that Grivot's wines never exactly sing in their youth, I was not surprised to find out what this was when I saw the results. Very good colour. Good structure on the nose. Fresh, rich, but rather closed in. Very good energy and concentration. Full body. Tannic. A big, backward wine. But there is very lovely fruit here and a very lovely finish. Got better and better in the glass. Very fine.
Anne GrosFrom 2015Medium-full colour. Soft, ripe, fruity, intense and classy on the nose. Medium-full body. Quite accessible. A touch of oak. Succulent, rich, but essentially quite forward. But very lovely complexity and lots of dimension. Very fine.
Michel GrosFrom 2015Medium-full colour. The nose is a bit unforthcoming, but on the palate this is beautifully balanced and very elegant. Medium-full body. Good tannins. Good grip. There is plenty of energy and distiction here, but today it is a little austere. Fine plus.
Gros Frère et SoeurFrom 2017From magnum. Good colour. Full, firm nose. Plenty of depth, concentraion and class. But quite backward. Still a touch raw. Full body. Very good tannins. Rich, concentrated and energetic. Delicious multi-dimensional fruit. Excellent finish. This is very special.
LamarcheFrom 2016Medium-full colour. Ripe, concentrated nose. Very good tannins. Lots of depth and dimension. Very good style and very lovely fruit. Full body. Very well-integrated tannins. Lovely harmony and splendid energy. Delicious finish. Very fine indeed.
Thibault Liger-BelairFrom 2016From magnum. Very good colour. The nose was a little reduced at first, but this soon resolved itself. Fullish body. Quite sturdy. Rich, balanced and concentrated. No lack of class. Very good tannins. Lots of rich fruit. Fat and succulent. Stylish and energetic. Lovely finish. This is very fine.
Dr Georges MugneretFrom 2015Medium-full colour. Fresh, pure, ripe, fragrant nose. Good substance without being a blockbuster. Balanced and stylish. Medium-full body. Very good tannins. Lots of class. Lots of energy Very harmonious and very complete. Especially lovely on the finish. Very fine indeed.
Jacques PrieurFrom 2013Good colour. A little more evolved on the nose than most. This is round as well as ripe. Medium to medium-full body. A certain astringency in the background. This doesn't have the grip of the majority. Decent fruit and class, but not enough harmony, personality and energy. Good at best.
RebourseauFrom 2016Medium-full colour. No lack of substance on the nose but the charcter is a little hidden at first. At first I thought it lacked a little richness. But there was plenty of the palate. Medium-full body. The tannin dominates still, but this is no long term problem. Good grip, and no lack of energy and fruit. Finishes long and classy. Fine.
Armelle et Bernard RionFrom 2015Medium to medium-full colour. Ripe, unaggressive, stylish, balanced fruit on the nose. Quite forward, it seemed at first. More to it as it developed. Medium to medium-full body. Good grip and good energy. Plenty of dimension on the follow through. Fresh and elegant. Long on the palate. Fine plus.
Daniel Rion et FilsFrom 2013Good colour. Some development here on the nose. And there is a lack of real vigour. Soft, fruity, ripe, easy to appreciate. Medium body. Soft tannins. Balanced and attractive. But not really serious. Very good at best.
Château de la TourFrom 2016Medium-full colour. Backward nose. Quite sturdy. But good, firm, balanced fruit. Plenty of energy and depth. Medium-full body. Quite tannic. This makes it tough going at first. But there is good grip here and the finish is promising. Just needs time Very good plus.
VougeraieFrom 2014Medium-full colour. Fresh, stylish fruit on the nose. Good harmony and depth. Good, engaging personality, without being a blockbuster. Medium-full body. Lovely rich, ripe fruit. Very harmonious and classy. Lovely finish. A wine that is very comfortable in its own skin. Fine plus.
Overall the growers' favourites were Arnoux, Anne Gros, Lamarche, Liger-Belair and Dr Georges Mugneret. I was impressed by how many voted for (had they guessed?) their own wines, and I have discounted this in the summary above.
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