Domaine Bruno Clavelier Vosne-Romanée La Combe Brûlée VV 2016

"The 2016 Vosne-Romanée la Combe Brûlées comes from 85-year-old vines that were hit by the frost so that between50% and 60% was lost. It does not quite have the same detail on the nose as the Hauts de Beaumont. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, quite masculine in style and just missing a little flesh toward the tapered finish. Hopefully this will gain a little more substance with bottle age.” (RP)

“(Bright medium red. Nose dominated by raspberry and pungent gunflinty calcaire. A step up in intensity from the Hauts de Beaux Monts (there's no clay in this soil) but tighter and more saline in the middle palate, offering hints of flowers and olive along with noteworthy mineral tension. Finishes sapid and long. Clavelier uses cordon de royat pruning for these very old vines and because they bud later he was able to keep a bit more crop. Still, there was a good bit of millerandage and production was just 17 hectoliters per hectare.” (Vinous)

Bruno Clavelier makes some of the very finest Bourgognes. His wines are extremely varietal and full of finesse, showing the nuance differences between the various terroirs in a quasi-inimitable way. The wines do require several years of ageing, but your patience will be particularly rewarded. La Combe Brûlée is a high-altitude, slightly cooler plot with 85-year-old vines on strongly calcareous soil, just above premier cru "Les Brûlées".