2020 Côte de Nuits

This might just be the best village Vosne out there. It comes from four parcels which host a variety of vine ages. The relatively high proportion of younger vines gives this cuvée an explosive, juicy structure. It is powerful and beautiful with silky tannins, and fresh high-acid fruit.

This comes from just one parcel in Vosne-Romanée, planted in 1955. The wines are yielding such low volumes that the domaine is in the process of replanting, uprooting one quarter of the parcel at a time. The yield in 2020, like 2019, was just 20 hl/ha, and the result is a staggeringly concentrated Bourgogne Rouge. It has a sweet density and deep, structured fruit, with profound persistence for a Bourgogne. It will easily age for a decade, which is not something you can say of every Bourgogne.

This wonderful parcel sits just beneath the cluster of houses in the village centre. It makes such a sweet and long wine in 2020, with a brilliantly deep fruit core. Perfumed and spiced, with great tension.

This well-positioned vineyard on the Vosne side of the appellation sits on the slope, enjoying plenty of sunshine and the cooling ventilation of a constant breeze, keeping the fruit in excellent health during the growing season. The vineyard is on the border with Vosne-Romanée and the wine shows so much of its neighbour’s finesse as well as concentration, with Nuits’ bite and grip.

This is the vineyard that lies right next to the family home and winery, extending out like a garden from the cellar doors. Marie-Christine and Marie-Andrée’s father had rented it to a neighbour, but the well-maintained vineyard came back under the domaine’s control again from 2017. It is a full-bodied, deeply-fruited village wine with superb density and a cool, blackberry character, with volume and mineral tension.

Ruchottes is a fairly small grand cru, just 3.3 hectares in total. The Mugneret-Gibourg parcel is in Ruchottes du Bas, and in 2020 has made a beautiful wine, with chewy density and a luxurious, voluptuous finish.

Since 2016, the domaine has added a little whole bunch to this cuvée (25% in 2020). It really works here, giving it superb aromatic lift. 65% of the fruit comes from Rouges du Bas, the rest from the Quartier de Nuits section of the Echézeaux grand cru. So elegant and balanced.

Mugneret-Gibourg has just one parcel within this sizable grand cru, planted in 1954, just next to the château. It is one of the finest examples of the vineyard, with depth, structure, and complexity, dark cherry fruit and a full-bodied length.