Domaine de la Vougeraie Bourgogne Terre de Famille Pinot Noir 2019

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Domaine de la Vougeraie

The Domaine de la Vougeraie was created by bringing together the Boisset family’s vineyards and other wine estates acquired over the years. The first of these goes back to 1964 with the first plot, Les Evocelles, in the village of Gevrey-Chambertin, which was bought by our father when he started out.

More than 20 years later came a second phase, with the addition of more vineyards including our first foothold on the Côte de Beaune. In 1996, the vineyards which today make up the third of our estate on the Côte de Beaune were acquired. This was followed by the acquisition of Le Clos Blanc, the famous monopole which produces its renowned golden nectar. These vines in our family village were the natural inspiration for the Domaine de la Vougeraie, like a return to our childhood roots.

Nathalie & Jean-Charles Boisset

A patchwork of 74 plots covering 42 hectares make up the estate, two-thirds on the Côte de Nuits, one-third on the Côte de Beaune, together producing 36 appellations,  including six grand crus (Musigny, Bonnes Mares, Clos Vougeot, Charmes Chambertin, Mazoyères, Corton Clos du Roi and Corton Charlemagne). At the heart is the diamond set among rubies, the legendary monopole of Vougeot Premier Cru Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot.

Lovingly tended soils, low yields for concentrated fruit, which is then handled with extreme care throughout growing cycle, followed by hand-stitched vinification and ageing for each plot: All of this contributes to a style that is all about elegance and the continual quest for a precise expression of terroir.

In the Vineyard & Winery

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 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. The Musigny is destemmed by hand. Starting in 2008 he has begun to experiment with some whole bunch fermentation, though only for a proportion of a given cuvée.

The 2019 Vintage at Domaine de la Vougeraie

From Burghound

Sylvie Poillot, who is the general manager of this now 44 ha domaine of which 70% of the production is in red, conducted this year’s tasting. As reported last year, the amount of vines under production grew recently because they bought Maison Alex Gambal. Gambal’s vines were already being farmed organically and thus there was no recertification necessary. With respect to the 2019 vintage, Poillot told me that “the hot and dry conditions made it imperative to watch maturities very closely as they began to spike as the harvest neared. We chose to begin picking in Volnay on the 9th of September and, in a change from the normal sequence, with our pinot rather than chardonnay. But I was so concerned that sugars would continue to rise rapidly that we hired 110 harvesters and divided them into 3 teams so we could be in more places at once. The fact that the fruit was so clean was definitely a big plus in terms of being able to pick quickly. We also could pick quickly for another reason, which is that yields were down some 40% relative to 2018. Alcohols were actually quite reasonable as the highest came from our vines in Charmes-Chambertin at 13.4%. I chose to use varying amounts of whole clusters that ranged from zero to as high as 100% with very little punching down during a roughly 20-day total cuvaison. As to the wines, they are remarkably fresh given the hot temperatures with excellent energy and transparency. Moreover, they’re quite concentrated and while they may not outlive the 2018s, they still should positively develop over several decades.” Poillot has once again fashioned some really lovely wines, many of which are worth checking out. 

Where in the World is Domaine de la Vougeraie?

Domaine de la Vougeraie is based in Premeaux just south of Nuits St Georges. This wine comes from a blend of parcels acrose the Côte du Beaune and Côte de Nuits and typically contains a significant amount of declassified young vine 1er Cru fruit.