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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
Clos des Mouches is the beating heart of the Drouhin Family’s life in Burgundy. A subtle vineyard mosaic, an essay in terroir, a symbol of hard work and shared joy, Clos des Mouches has been synonymous with Maison Joseph Drouhin since 1921.
Clos des Mouches blanc is revered for its purity of focus and expression. It is a Chardonnay that shines aromatically with intense, complex, and pure notes of white flowers, lush fruits, and gentle spices. This same pure quality manifests as structure and fullness, energy and finesse, elegance, and a remarkable length on the palate.Always at home on a dining table, Clos des Mouches blanc pairs with an exceptional range of cuisines, from grilled lobster to crispy sweetbreads, roasted turbot to saffron scallops, straight through to eggs with truffles, spaghetti alle vongole, or certain cheeses such as Comté, and so much more.
This legendary Premier Cru, which produces elegant, subtle, complex, and sublime white and red wines, is the genesis of the family estate.Today, Maurice Drouhin’s vision and commitment to authentic Burgundy, and his singular approach to a very special place, are upheld by the family’s third, fourth and fifth generations. The incredible stories, emotions, and inspiring vintages are why the family holds Clos des Mouches so dear and why it is so closely linked to the Maison’s identity. The hundredth anniversary is not merely a celebration of the past but a recognition of a living heritage that has survived all manner of human endeavors.
Today, a century later, the Clos des Mouches continues to occupy a unique place among the hundred appellations and the 80 hectares of Maison Joseph Drouhin. While not a monopole, Drouhin produces the lion’s share of the appellation. The vineyard is a geological patchwork of limestone marls, clays, and slabs with varying soil depths, altitudes, and orientations, covering 14 hectares. Most of the vines are between 25 and 50 years old, with some over 85 years old. Massale selection is used when replanting, and horses are a common sight at work in the vineyard. In this ecosystem, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are spread over twenty unique plots. This rich palette is what allows the Drouhin family to express the identity of Clos des Mouches each year in all its complexity. It is an ideal portrait of the place and an embodiment of the Joseph Drouhin style – the marriage of elegance, finesse, complexity, depth, and excellence.
Wine Information
Grape Variety : Chardonnay
Vineyard
Site: at the southern end of the Beaune appellation, next to Pommard. The Drouhin vineyard is at mid-slope, on a mild incline with an east/south east exposure. It is the largest parcel of the Clos des Mouches (14 hectares - 35 acres), one half planted with chardonnay, the other with pinot noir.
History & tradition: the name "mouches" means flies. There were once bee-hives in this sun-drenched "clos" (vineyard enclosure); the bees in the local dialect were called "mouches à miel" (honey flies), hence the name Clos des Mouches. It is one of the first vineyards acquired by Maurice Drouhin (the founder's son) in the 1920's. With great determination, he bought 41 different parcels from 8 proprietors. It is planted out in equal quantities of red and white grapes and both wines have achieved mythical status for the House of Joseph Drouhin.
Soil: clay and limestone. Rocky soil in the upper part of the vineyard. At the center, the soil is limestone and marl. This light composition favours the great finesse of the wine.
Domaine area: 6.82 ha. (17.05 acres).
Average age of the vines: 45 years.
Viticulture
Biological cultivation since 1990; biodynamic cultivation a few years later.
Vine stocks: "sélection massale" (propagation of new vine stocks from a number of selected vines) done at the Drouhin nursery; also clones of recognized quality.
Soil maintenance: compost of manure and white wood, sometimes guano (seabird manure used as fertilizer). Soil is ploughed either by tractor or by horse to manage spreading of weeds.
Treatment: only authorized products for biological cultivation are used: infusions and macerations of plant materials, sulfur and copper, powdered rock. Natural predators are not eliminated.
Plantation density: from 10,000 to 12,500 stocks/ha in order to extract all possible nuances from the terroir and limit the production of each vine stock.
Pruning: Guyot.
Yield: we aim to keep our yields low, more in line with the previous regulation: around 20% less than allowed by the current law.
Vinification
Harvesting: by hand, in small open crates in order to preserve the integrity of the fruit.
Sorting: if necessary, the grapes are sorted twice : once when being picked, the second time on the sorting table at the winery.
Pressing: very slow so as to respect fruit. Juices from the very last pressings are not retained.
The wine goes directly into barrels after débourbage (decanting of white wine to reduce sediment).
Ageing
Type: in barrels (25% in new oak).
Length: 12 to 15 months.
Origin of the wood: French oak forests.
Weathering of the wood: Joseph Drouhin insists on total control of the weathering for a period of 3 years, one of the contributing elements to the elegance of the wine.
Throughout the ageing process, decisions are taken only after careful tasting evaluation. The data obtained is then completed through technical analysis. As with every other Joseph Drouhin wine, absolute priority is given to the true expression of the terroir and character of the vintage.
Tasting note by Véronique Boss-Drouhin
"An outstanding wine. Pale yellow colour. Complex floral nose of white lilac and white rose. Once open, fruity aromas come to the fore, evolving towards grilled hazelnut and almond. When the wine is more mature, the nose is surprisingly strong and fifteen minutes of aeration produce wonderful notes of white truffle, citron (cedrat), honey and nutmeg, elegantly meshed together. Very lively on the palate. Its rich texture is in evidence, but also its structure and minerality. It is round, but never heavy. Harmonious fullness in the aftertaste. This wine allies remarkably the complexity and elegance of a Bâtard-Montrachet with the power of a Corton-Charlemagne".
Vintage
At present, the wines are full of aromas with a beautiful freshness.
They are well-balanced with a good acidity level, and show a great potential.
Serving
Temperature: 14°C (57°C).
Cellaring: 5 to 30 years.
Vuosikerta 1985
1985 Burgundy by Clive Coates MW / The 1985 vintage represents a turning point in the wine history of Burgundy. Before this date, on the whole, winegrowers made wine, merchants bought it, assembled several plots, if necessary, and sold it. Subsequently, more and more estates began to mature, bottle and market the wines themselves. In the meantime, many merchants had taken the opportunity to expand their own estates, so that, particularly at the upper end, they were more or less self-sufficient. In the 1970s, and earlier, there were barely around twenty producers – we think of Rousseau, Dujac, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Gouges, Lafarge and Leflaive – who did not sell in bulk. Many of today's super-stars bottled only a token quantity and were unknown to even the most perceptive merchant or journalist.
The emergence of these new areas is transforming Burgundy. In a very short time, almost everyone who had a grand cru and many who had a good premier cru were bottling as much as they could themselves. There was, of course, the question of cash flow. If you sold to a merchant, you were paid in full at the time of the next vintage. If you sold in bottles, you didn't get the money until about two and a half years later, after bottling 18 months after harvest and possible shipping in winter thereafter. We would therefore not be able, unless we were otherwise financed, to move from bulk sales to bottled sales overnight. I remember the late Philippe Engel explaining to me that the transformation for him took ten years.
The process was encouraged by local residents. Burgundy is a generous wine region. Most growers are on very good terms with their neighbors and are only too happy to help if there is a problem. Naturally, the best ones have a queue of potential buyers waiting to step in if one of the regular customers falls through. What could be more natural for the important owner of the much sought-after estate than to recommend a hitherto unknown young neighbor who was looking for business. If he or she was a cousin or in-law, so much the better.
Moreover, the quality was improving, and by leaps and bounds. The best growers went to Viti in Beaune then to the University of Dijon. Many left for a stopover in California or Australia, or elsewhere in France. Tasting each other’s wines with your neighbors has become commonplace. Firstly, selling your wine under your own label required you not to cut corners, which you might have been tempted to do if you were simply selling in bulk. Tasting your wine alongside those of your friends and reading a review of it in a wine magazine will soon tell you whether you are producing superior quality or not. Second, viticulture and viticulture techniques had become increasingly sophisticated. There has been a return to plowing and the elimination of herbicides and pesticides. The size of the harvest was taken into greater account. And finally the introduction of the sorting table: the greatest contribution to increasing quality of all. Today, everyone has a sorting table. The first time I saw it was Domaine de la Romanée-Conti when I was making a video in 1987. Finally, after a disappointing run of vintages in the 1970s and early 1980s, 1985 ushered in a series of high quality years that continues to this day. Burgundy has not had a bad vintage since 1984. Thirty years.
The consequence of all this is that it is increasingly difficult for everyone, not just the outside journalist, to keep up. Every year, new areas, worthy of exploration and waiting to be discovered. In 1985, I visited six estates in Gevry, four in Morey and Chambolle and perhaps eight in Vosne. Today I should visit 25 in Gevrey, and so on. A marathon for which I no longer have the energy. I am very lucky to have been there at the time and to have experienced what was an exciting time in Burgundy.