Albert Bichot - Clos-de-Vougeot Domaine du Clos Frantin 2015 (3L)

With its 50-hectare (123.5 acre) walled vineyard, 80 owners, a terroir discovered 9 centuries ago by Cistercian monks, a renowned brotherhood of wine enthusiasts (Confrérie du Tastevin)... Clos-de-Vougeot showcases everything that Burgundy is all about! But, let us not forget that Clos-de-Vougeot is first and foremost a highly unique terroir. Our plots connect the bottom to the top of the Clos. This allows combining the fruitiness, which is very typical of the lower part of the vineyard, with the structure that is characteristic of the upper part.

Since 1350, the Bichot family has called Burgundy home. In 1831, Bernard Bichot founded a merchant house bearing his name a couple of kilometers south of Beaune. At the end of the 19th century, his grandson Albert Bichot took the family business into a new direction and created the winery, Maison Albert Bichot as we know it. The family heritage has been perpetuated since then. Albert Bichot has acquired 250 acres of vineyards in the most reputed growing areas throughout Burgundy. The family crest, consisting of a deer and antlers, has been synonymous with the winery since its inception.

The 2015 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru has a perfumed, peppermint-tinged bouquet, turning more to cough drop scents with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, offering supple tannin, good balance, smooth texture, well-judged acidity and a silky, sensual, almost flirtatious finish. It may have put on a little too much "makeup" in the winery, but there is undoubtedly a pretty wine underneath. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting. (Drink between 2020-2045)

The 2015 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru has a clean and pure bouquet with raspberry preserve, cranberry cordial and light slate aromas developing in the glass, although they took five to eight minutes to really get going (unlike the more immediate Chambertin for example). The palate is medium-bodied with succulent ripe red cherry and raspberry fruit, crisp acidity, quite saline in the mouth with plenty of sappiness on the finish. I would have just liked a little more sustain on the aftertaste, but otherwise this is fine.