The bottle is ludicrously heavy, but the wine inside is very good indeed. Mid garnet/red in colour, complex, perfumed nose of red fruits, some Asian spices and a beautifully balanced, elegant palate with the stuffing to age. The wine is everything that the ponderous bottle isn’t. Impressive stuff from a lesser known name.
Food Match: Game
2009 Louis Latour, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Another winery that is in the running for my heavy bottle Burgundy award. Mid garnet/red in colour. The palate shows sweet oak, reasonable concentration, some raspeberry coulis notes and good acidity, with appealing balance. It’s more of a village level wine than a Grand Cru, but it’s still a decent Pinot.
2009 François Lamarche, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Better known for its holdings in Vosne-Romanée, this domaine produces densely powerful wines with a lot of oak. That’s the case here too: big, dense, low yield-derived Pinot with the barrel staves a little too dominant on the palate and a dry, almost Italianate finish. Not my style of Pinot.
2009 Hubert Chauvenet-Chopin, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Mid ruby/garnet. Smoky, oak-dominated nose that is still closed at present. There’s a hint of volatility here, but it adds a lift to the sweet, concentrated fruit. The wine is a little over-ripe and jammy, but it has hidden depths.
2009 Frédéric Magnien, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Light, mid garnet. Slightly cloudy. Smoky oak is prominent on both the nose and palate, but there’s a lot matter and texture to soak it up. Red fruits, savoury tannins, fresh acidity and good ageing potential. But less new oak would have been welcome.
2009 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Very pale garnet/pink, verging on a rosé in hue. The alcohol is a little prominent on the nose, but there’s good acidity and some texture too. The fruit is a tad over-ripe and confected, but the tannins are gentle, the flavours palate-caressingly sweet.
2009 Anne Gros, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Mid-garnet with a ruby/pink rim. Aromatic, oak-infused nose, made in a modern style. Juicy with a hint of stemminess. Structured with an appealing interplay between fruit, acid and oak. Good length, punchy, made to age.
2009 Méo-Camuzet, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )An impressive wine from one of the star names in Vosne, very much on the up at the moment. Mid garnet with some purple notes. Big, rich, bold and oaky, but backed up witt lots of dense fruit, ostensibly from low-yielding vines. Spice, plum and balckberry on the palate, some stems and a long, silky, harmonious finish. Lovely wine.
2009 Domaine d'Ardhuy, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Mid ruby/pink. Smoky, incense-like nose. A wine that needs time to express itself. At the moment, the tannins seem a little dry and extracted, possibly a result of the hot vintage. But there’s good underlying structure here and sweet, concentrated fruit.
2009 R. Dubois, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Mid-ruby/garnet. Youthful, but also on the over-ripe side. The sample I tasted was showing some oxidation and pruneyness. Curranty, slightly bitter with lots of oak. Rather four square. Maybe it was a bad sample?
2009 Laurent Roumier, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Pale garnet/red. Aromatic, leafy, wild strawberry nose, with just a hint of oak. Fine and nuanced. Lovely, sweet, textured fruit, with acidity underpinning the flavours. The oak and extraction are perfectly judged here. The wine is very long: Pinot wizardry showing real mastery of the vintage and the cru.
2009 Henri Boillot, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy
( ££££, 13.5%, Fine + Rare )Pale purple with a pinkish rim. The nose is on the oaky side with a slightly feral note. The palate is leafy and a little dry, but there’s a refreshing twist that lifts the wine on the finish. It just needs a little more fruit in the middle for plumpness.