Description
93 Points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate, 29th June 2015
Tasted from bottle, the 2016 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Rouge has deepened and fleshed out since I tasted it from barrel, and today its superb potential is impossible to dispute. Wafting from the glass with a rich bouquet of raspberries, black cherries, rich soil tones and spices and deftly framed by toasty new oak, the wine is medium to full-bodied, fleshy but vibrant, with a layered, textural mid-palate, velvety tannins and a long, precise finish. This is a serious, broad-shouldered Clos des Mouches that will offer a broad drinking window.
I tasted the wines at their offices in central Beaune from pre-prepared samples instead of at the winery as I did last year. Of course, the frost was a major factor, not least because Drouhin’s interests lie from decimated Chablis down to Beaujolais, which escaped the frost but was rattled by hail on 13 April. I remember touring the winery last year with Veronique Drouhin during the alcoholic fermentation and being shown the miniscule vats being used to house the “handful” of grapes from some of their most affected vineyards, quantities measured in liters rather than hectoliters. The second half of the season was the savior, and a warm and dry September had allowed the harvest to commence under perfect conditions on the 23rd in the Cote d’Or. Here, they sorted between first and second-generation bunches instead of taking the average, and fermentations took between 19 and 23 days, punch-downs preferred to pumping-over. Most of the grand crus and premier crus contain around 20% to 30% whole clusters. Like many growers with vineyards scattered hither and thither across the region, the frost and mildew pressure impacted each parcel to wildly variant degrees, and this is translated through to the wines themselves. Some crus were clearly hampered by the growing season, and it is miraculous that they are as good as they are, particularly when you take into account that Drouhin adheres to biodynamic principles in the vineyard. That entails a lot of vineyard hours. Thanks to the benevolent second half of the season, all that hard work paid off. Other wines are marvellous! Check out their Clos de Vougeot or gorgeous Vosne-Romanee Les Petits Monts. Suffice to say that the wines here maintain the standard set in recent years. Thankfully, the 2017 was an abundant year, so I look forward to tasting the full range in 12 months’ time.
