2010 Vougeot Les Petits Vougeots

Dark aromas of blackberry, raspberry and smoky minerality, lifted by a subtle floral topnote. Dense and rather unforthcoming, with serious spine to the imploded black fruit flavors. More Clos Vougeot than Chambolle in style, even a bit youthfully tough today. This backward, tannic wine nonetheless shows excellent length.

Bright crimson. Tense and juicy and super fruity. Very juicy. Slightly hard finish. But extremely lean and juicy on the way there. Next to Amoureuses. Very vibrant and pure. Other owners here are Bertagna, Roux, Hudelot-Noëllat, and Clerget. Tense and convincing. (JR)

The 2010 Vougeot Les Petits Vougeots floats on the palate with a weightless, totally graceful expression of Pinot Noir. Sweet red berries, crushed flowers and mint are some of the notes that waft from the glass in this seductive, alluring wine. The Petits Vougeots retains gorgeous inner perfume and fragrance through to the finish. Stylistically it is closer to Chambolle than Vougeot. There is more than enough density and structure for this to drink well for a number of years, but it is also immensely appealing right now. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2030. The biggest news at Domaine Fourrier is Jean-Marie Fourrier’s decision to launch a small negociant operation to augment his estate wines. Readers can look forward to new bottlings from the 1er Cru Aux Exchanges in Chambolle-Musigny and two new Grand Cru wines from Clos de Vougeot and Echezeaux, all of which will debut with the 2011 vintage. As for 2010, Fourrier told me he is down 40% across the board in terms of yields. The cold weather during the flowering produced 100% millerandage (shot berries), which Fourrier described as pea-sized grapes. While that is not good for quantity, it has certainly turned out great for quality. Readers who want to learn more about Fourrier’s thoughts on the vintage and approach to vinification might want to check out my video interview on www.erobertparker.com. As a quick note, none of the 2010s had been racked at the time of my visit in early December 2011. I have kept scores a bit wider than normal in the few cases where the wines were a touch reduced. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990