2015 Domaine de Montille, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

There are four barrels of the 2015 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru (100% whole cluster and 50% new oak). It has a very pure and attractive bouquet with ample ripe blackberry, raspberry preserve and mineral scents that flourish in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, crisp acidity and superb focus. This really gets to grip with the terroirs and the tongue is tingling long after the wine has departed. Superb.

(vinified with 100% whole clusters and aged in 50% new oak; the de Montille holding is in "the middle third of the Clos, on the north side," according to Sieve): Healthy medium red. Tight aromas of dark cherry and spicy oak convey a medicinal aspect that's leavened somewhat by a note of rose petal. Very ripe (actually 13.1% natural alcohol) but tangy and tight, showing little in the way of early sweetness to its raspberry and cherry flavors. In fact, this wine comes across as rather cool in style and a bit angular in its youth. But the palate-dusting finish lingers nicely. Sieve noted that the estate will begin destemming more of its Clos Vougeot fruit "to reduce the wine's rustic character."