Anne Gros

The Gros family have been making excellent wine in the famous Burgundian commune of Vosne-Romanee since 1830, when Alphonse Gros married Madame Latour and acquired his first parcels of vines there. There were various divisions of the land until the latest generation took over in 1995 when Jean Gros retired. The estate was, at that point, divided amongst his three children, Michel, Bernard (bottled under the Gros Frère et Soeur brand) and the youngest, Anne. Although all three are neighbours in the village of Vosne-Romanee, their wine styles are very different.

Until 1994, Anne labelled her wines under Domaine Anne and Francoise Gros (her father's name). Her vineyard holdings are very small, but they include the jewel in her collection: 0.6 hectares of Richebourg, first planted in around 1930. She has quickly gained a reputation as one of the finest producers in Burgundy.         

"Vine cultivation is extremely important and must be done in harmony with man and terroir(...) Pinot is a difficult varietal to cultivate, it is the most capricious but also the most fantastic."Concerned about practising a viticulture that is more respectful of man, vine and terroir, Anne Gros has taken a keen interest in biodynamic and organic viticulture. Though she believes this philosophy of cultivation is vital for the preservation of the terroir's biodiversity, she refuses to categorize or label the domaine as such. Her work in the vineyard consists especially of deliberate treatments (rational) according to need, ploughing the soil and using compost."I understand what each parcel is capable of in terms of quality, and I try to maintain the ideal number of bunches per vine stock."

Spring is the period when the vegetation's only requirement is to burst into life. One can feel all the tension. The rising of the sap marks the end of pruning. It is the final snip of the shears to sculpt the vines for the rest of the year. (Guyot pruning) Spore contamination (eutypiose) is thus controlled by this natural barrier. The 1st ploughing of the soil deters weed growth with the help of nitrogen fertilizer. The rhythm of frequency is approximately every three weeks, according to precipitation levels.

The state of trellising must then be checked carefully and repaired before attaching the cane. Fastening lasts approximately 3 weeks. The canes are pulled down on the pruning wire in such a way to mark the bend and stop future vegetation from tangling. During the month of May, after the tension of spring frost has past, it is necessary to severely prune the undesirable new shoots. This operation is referred to as green pruning, summer pruning, or even sucker removing... Aeration, potential yield and future pruning are the parameters which guide each operation. It is the moment of the first mildew contamination and the procession of timed treatments according to the temperature and precipitation levels.
 

The growth of the vine sometimes happens so fast in June that we don't stop running from one parcel to the other to trellis, afraid if a new branch will be break by wind or rain... or under their own weight. Protection against oidium begins by the 7th leaf. The 1st trim takes place around flowering and is repeated approximately every 15 days.

The harvest generally takes place between 15/09 and the 1st days of October. The sampling of maturity, the sanitary state of the grapes and the weather forecast all determine the date of harvest. Seasonal workers are recruited for approximately one week.
The grapes are sorted at harvest and removed from the parcel by back baskets. Small containers of 500 kg are transported regularly to the winery.

The vegetative cycle has ended, the sap falls again, the leaves turn colour quickly (gold and purple) then fall off with the 1st frost. Mechanical prepruning can begin as soon as the ground is solid. In mid-November, we begin winter pruning eliminating the old wood.

Vinification is traditional at the domaine. In lined cement tanks for the reds and stainless steel tanks for the whites.

Anne Gros is constantly experimenting, and her winemaking style has evolved over the 10 years she has been in charge. Currently, the hand-picked grapes are crushed, with 20% of the stems retained. Fermentations are conducted in either stainless steel tanks or open-topped wooden vats, depending on the cuvée. She uses natural yeasts, with temperatures allowed to rise to 32°C. The wines are aged in barrel, with a high proportion of new oak - 80 to 90% for the Grands Crus. They are bottled after 15 to 18 months.

Barrel Ageing

At the domaine, barrel ageing takes place over approximately 16 months using a large percent of new oak: 80% for the grand crus, 50% for the village wines and 30% for the regional wines. This allows us to obtain a regular exchange of oxygen and wine as new wood is both a catalyst and a developer. It is what gives the wine aromatic complexity, weight and structure. Thanks to this alchemy, the expression of each different terroir in our wines is preserved and shown to its advantage.

The Gros family tree is fairly complicated, not least because the names Anne and François seem particularly popular. The original Louis Gros vineyards were split between his four children, two of whom combined their holdings, resulting in three separate domaines. These have now been further divided among Jean Gros' three children and François Gros' daughter Anne. Note that Domaine Anne Gros, formerly called Domaine Anne & François Gros, is not the same as Domaine A.F. Gros, which belongs to Anne's cousin Anne-Françoise. Just to complicate matters further, Anne-Françoise has married another François, from the Parent family of Pommard fame !

Fortunately for confused buyers, they all make very good wine from the fine vineyards each has inherited. Anne has got nearly a hectare in the best part of the Clos Vougeot, where the slope is steepest and the soil well-drained, as well as 60 ares of Richebourg. Also of interest are her 'village' status vines in Chambolle and Gevrey: both are up the hill rather than on the flat alluvial plain, and she succeeds in making wines of 1er Cru quality from each.

Anne took over the winemaking from her father in 1988, having studied at Beaune and Dijon and gained valuable work experiencce in Australia (at Rosemount). She is open to new ideas and constantly experimenting, a legacy of her time in Australia perhaps. The results are highly encouraging, and she is quickly building a reputation as one of the new stars of the Côte de Nuits. These are wines of elegance, charm and great finesse, ideal for medium-term drinking.