2017 Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

The 2017 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru contains just a small percentage of whole bunches, matured in 40% new oak. The engaging bouquet offers quite intense blackberry and raspberry preserve aromas mixed with pressed iris and light oyster shell aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin that frames a more structured Clos de Vougeot and lends insistent grip. This feels very linear and quite persistent, but clearly it will need five to seven years to reach any kind of drinking plateau.

Aromas of berry fruit, incense, orange rind, musk and spices introduce the 2017 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, a medium to full-bodied wine that's broad, fleshy and elegant, with satiny—even melting—structuring tannins, good depth at the core and a long, expansive finish. Berthaut performs less pigeage on this cuvée than any other in the winery to temper its tendency to structural muscularity, and that approach, allied with the inherently supple vintage, has made for a very elegant wine.