VOUGEOT

Localization : Côte de Nuits
Total vineyard area : 67.10 ha. of which 11.70 ha. Premier Cru and 50.60 ha. Grand Cru
Area in production : 65 ha
Variety and types of wine : almost exclusively Pinot producing red wine (only 3.10 ha. are planted with Chardonnay)
Classification : village, premier cru et grand cru.

Premier Cru territories :

Les Cras
Le Clos Blanc
Les Petits Vougeots
Clos de la Perrière

Grand Cru territories :

Clos de Vougeot : Classed "outstanding" by Docteur Lavalle (Histoire et Statistiques de la vigne et des grands vins de la Côte d'Or, 1855), perhaps one of the most famous names in Burgundy. When the abbey was founded at Cîteaux in 1098, the monks were quickly given land from different Villages including Vougeot, in 1110. The land very soon became small vineyards. For over 600 years, Clos Vougeot was to be managed by the Cistercian monks. After the French Revolution of 1789, the whole of the clos was sold in 1791 to a speculator in Paris and it then passed from hand to hand to different opportunists, being finally sold in 1889 to six local wine merchants. This great vineyard, until then a monopoly, was broken up and purchased by more and more proprietors so today it belongs to about 80 different owners.

Over the 50 or so hectares of this Grand Cru, the ground has different characteristics : brown, marlish, clay soil lower down, with pebbles half way up, full of gravel but much less clay at the top of the slope. Globally, chalk is present throughout and the fine layer of earth is 40cm thick at the most. The 23 ares of the Bouchard Père & Fils estate are at the top of the slope, in one of the best parts, and give birth to wines which have a perfect blend of finesse and elegance. With a complex bouquet of red berries a soupçon of spice and a touch of oak, they offer brilliant elegance on the palate with remarkable persistence. This Grand Cru offers exceptional ageing potential.

Photographic credit : Dominique Pernin