DOMAINE DE LA VOUGERAIE Clos Blanc de Vougeot 1er Cru Monopole 2023 CASE x 6 Bottles ORG/BIO - PRE-RELEASE

Description

Domaine de la Vougeraie, based in Premeaux just south of Nuits St Georges, was created in 1999 when Jean-Claude Boisset of the Boisset group decided to group together all the vineyard holdings of his various negociant companies acquired over the years. The name comes from the significant holdings – and indeed Jean-Claude Boisset’s home – in the village of Vougeot. The winery is located however in the old Claudine Deschamps (Madame Jean-Claude Boisset) cellars in Prémeaux. The domaine was put together from the various vineyard holdings which had accrued through the Boisset acquisitions of Burgundian houses over the years. Pascal Marchand was put in charge in 1999, with Bernard Zito in the vineyards, which were farmed biodynamically. Pascal produced powerful wines, fairly heavily extracted in his early vintages but clearly was subsequently moving to a softer approach by 2004.

With nearly 40 hectares of vineyard and over 30 different appellations, including six grand crus (Musigny, Bonnes Mares, Clos Vougeot, Charmes Chambertin, Mazoyères, Corton Clos du Roi and Corton Charlemagne), this is one of Burgundy’s leading domaines.

No expense has been spared in production terms. The premier and grand cru vineyards are all farmed biodynamically with carefully limited yields. The cellar has been equipped with a battery of new or renovated wooden fermentation vats, a state of the art sorting table and a new model of the old fashioned vertical press which is thought to be the best option for red wines. The wines were made by Pascal Marchand of Comte Armand in Pommard, from 1999 to 2005 and subsequently by Pierre Vincent who has maintained the more delicate approach. The grapes are sorted on one of the longest tables de tri I have seen, before being given a cool pre-maceration. During fermentation Pierre punches down only once a day, much less than Pascal used to. The temperature is maintained at 26º-28ºC/79-81ºF after fermentation to polymerise the tannins and fix the colour. Starting in 2008 he has begun to experiment with some whole bunch fermentation, though only for a proportion of a given cuvée.

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The Monopole of Clos Blanc is a mythical, mystical vineyard, adjacent to the Château du Clos de Vougeot. This golden triangle, surrounded on all sides by great reds, first offered its pure, golden sacrament to its spiritual fathers, the first monks of Cîteaux, in 1110. Known as “The White Vineyard”, it is like a diamond set in the centre of rubies.

This vineyard has always been planted with white grapes, a tradition started when the Cîteaux monks planted the forerunners of today’s Chardonnay to produce a white wine for their sacrament.

This walled vineyard is special for another very rare reason. Despite the French Revolution in 1789 when national property was sold off, the Clos Blanc de Vougeot remained a monopole, an undivided property. Nurtured by Jules Ouvrard then Jules Régnier in the 19th Century, it belonged to L’Héritier-Guyot in the 20th Century and now forms a part of the Domaine de la Vougeraie, sole owner of the monopole.

The harvest began on the 6th of September. The fermentation has started in stainless steel and finished in Allierand and Cîteaux oak barrels (medium toast) with againg of 16 months in oak (20% new).

Jasper Morris 5 STARS 94-97 points: "An attractive lemon and lime colour. The bouquet is reserved, discreet yet fine, before opening out a little more to display correctly ripe orchard fruit. There is a superbly managed generosity of fruit on the palate, building in waves rather than volumes, with depth as much as breadth at the back. This is a first class Clos Blanc with superb persistence." Drink from 2029-2038. Tasted Nov 2024.