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News
93-95 points Vinous
The 2012 Clos Vougeot is one of the most impressive of the Grand Crus I tasted at Jadot this year. Powerful, rich and layered, the 2012 has more than enough fruit to balance the tannins. Dark red fruit, scorched earth, chalk and iron are all layered into the supple, racy finish. This is a surprisingly finessed Clos Vougeot. Hints of rose petal and mint add lift on the close. There is so much to admire here. (AG) (1/2014)
94 points Wine & Spirits
This comes from Jadot’s five-acre holding in Clos Vougeot. The vines in Jadot’s holding are 50- to 60-years-old, located from halfway to two-thirds of the way up the hill. My notes from the blind tasting read like a lecture from Jacques Lardière, the recently retired technical director at Jadot, who often spoke as if he’d been dynamized for a biodynamic prep: “Floral buzz. The feel of limestone in the tannins. Energized. Vigorous.” Aside from the energy in the wine, there is a lovely richness, the powerful tannins seamlessly melded with dark-cherry savor. Scents of rose hips add to that floral buzz, as the wine keeps juicing up in the finish. This has the balance and drive to age for years. (10/2015)
93 points Allen Meadows - Burghound
A brooding and almost completely inexpressive nose reveals the barest glimpses of dark berry fruit as it fights with the very prominent toasty wood. The round and very supple big-bodied flavors possess good mid-palate concentration as well as fine size, weight and power before terminating in a velvety, delicious and youthfully austere finish where the wood telegraphed by the nose reappears. This exceptionally primary effort will require long-term cellaring to be at its absolute peak. Note that I would not suggest this as a good candidate to enjoy young as the wood is presently annoying even though the density is such that my rating implicitly assumes that it will eventually be absorbed. Drink 2030+ (4/2015)
93 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the annual "Burgfest" tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru from Louis Jadot has a lifted, licorice-tinged bouquet with plenty of guts to it. There aromatics do not hold back. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannin, dense black fruit with a structured finish that does not quite deliver the complexity the aromatics suggest at first, but with aeration, manifests subtle nuances and fine mineralité. This is a great success for winemaker Frédéric Barnier and his team. (NM) (10/2015)
Wine Description
The Story
The Clos de Vougeot in the heart of the Côte de Nuits occupies most of the vineyard area belonging to the commune of Vougeot. Vougeot's neighbours are Chambolle-Musigny, Flagey-Échezeaux and Vosne-Romanée. On the slopes at the upper end of the Clos, it abuts on the vineyards of Musigny and Grands-Échezeaux.
Founded around 1110 AD by the monks of nearby Cîteaux, who remained its owners until the Revolution of 1789, the Clos de Vougeot is a Burgundian icon. Its 50.59 hectares have never been broken up and it retains its identity intact within the walls which were built to enclose it 5 centuries ago. Its wines are among the finest of the Grand Cru reds and it has held Grand Cru status since 31 July 1937.
The château, (which adjoins the cellars and the winery with its giant presses dating back to the 12th and 14th centuries), is built in the Burgundian Renaissance style and is open to visitors. The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin holds its meetings or « chapters » here and therefore it is no surprise that the finest food and wine in France is found here.
The diversity of soils within the Clos de Vougeot makes up a sort of needle-point tapestry. At about 255 metres above sea-level, its upper end is gently sloping, with soil only some 40 cm deep, coarse-grained and gravelly over a limestone base. In the centre, at about 250 metres of altitude, the soil is still shallow (45 cm), brown, more clayey, overlying broken limestone. The lower portion (around 240 metres) has a brown soil which is deeper (90 cm) and lies on a layer of marl, rich in clay and alluvium. The rocks belong to the Jurassic period (175 million years BC).
« Here's presence ! » exclaims Hugh Johnson's Wine Guide. Nowadays the vineyard is divided among numerous owners and for this reason no single description can be applied to the reds wines. There are, however, common features : very intense colour ranging from strawberry red to deep garnet ; a suave bouquet, redolent of springtime of blown roses at dawn, of violets in the morning dew, of moist mignonette... Add to these blackberry, raspberry, wild mint, liquorice and truffle... On the palate, the taste is masterful, rich, succulent and mellow, combining elegance and delicacy with meaty fullness. A long finish in the mouth and long aging potential (anything from 10 to 30 years and sometimes even more).
This mouth-filling and noble wine demands to be matched with food that is equally as rich, smooth, opulent, and complex. The emphasis therefore will normally be on musky and marbled meats: forerib of beef, braised lamb, roast veal with mushrooms or a nice game-bird (in sauce or simply roasted). The meat must not be too firm, thus allowing the tannins of the Clos de Vougeot to envelop it without being over-dominant.
Cheeses: preferably soft-centred cheeses such as Époisses, Langres, Soumaintrain, Saint-Florentin, and not forgetting Cîteaux, whose monks first established this famous vineyard.
Serving temperatures: 12 to 13 °C for young wines, 15 to 16 °C for older wines.
Vintage 2012
2012 was beset by unusual weather that didn’t spare the vines! A mild winter, spring-like March, cool spring with frosts, summer-like May, cooler, wetter June, a variable summer with heatwaves, hail and storms… Because of the cold damp spring, some of the vine flowers didn’t set and form fruit, there was millerandage (where the flowers aren’t fully fertilised and give small berries) and high pressure from mildew and odium. Temperatures went right up during the short periods, over-heating and scorching the berries. This weather caused a significant fall in yields, without, however, impacting on the quality of the grapes, as well spread out bunches with small berries guarantee concentration and intensity.
All in all, the grapes achieved good ripeness in aromas and good sugar to acidity balance. The white wines are characterised by their finesse and concentration. The reds set themselves apart with their lovely colours, ripe and silky tannins and their harmonious mouthfeel
