2012 Vosne Romanee

The 2012 Vosne-Romanee Village is entirely raised in new oak. It was showing considerable reduction on the nose when tasted from barrel. The palate is more representative with a toasty, quite woody entry with candied orange peel and licorice notes. It comes across as modern in style with a lascivious coffee-infused finish, but it feels little labored compared to its peers. Bernard gave me a superb boogie-woogie rendition of “Amazing Grace” on his Steinway, one that Jools Holland would be proud of, following my tasting of 2012s His grand piano, parked in a cavernous annex of his renovated cellar, is truly something to behold. There it stands against the craggy, fissured limestone walls that form a jaw-dropping juxtaposition against what appears to be the dance-floor at Studio 54. I’ve been visiting this address ever since I started in the wine trade and Bernard Gros’s style has remained unchanged during that period. These are big wines lavished in new oak – always have been and maybe always will be. I cannot help feeling that the range would be improved without resorting 100% new oak on every single cuvee from the village Vosne-Romanee upwards and I sometimes question the practice of heating the wines to 40 degrees for 24 hours to give rounder tannins. Is that over-egging an already very tasty cake? The wines are occasionally subjugated by the new wood and my experience of mature bottles suggests that they never quite shake it off, although there are Burgundy lovers who appreciate that style, perhaps in Japan where Bernard enjoys a strong following. When you start reaching the grand crus, in particular the Richebourg, only then you can see that the intense fruit is able to carry the wood and fully absorb it, allowing the terroir to show through. Bernard Gros is one of Vosne-Romanee’s most entertaining winemakers. I just hope that in future vintages he’ll just retreat a little from the cooperage so that we can see his propitious vineyards. Importer: Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639

Generous wood frames spicy black pinot fruit that leads to rich, round and velvety medium weight flavors that offer reasonably good depth and length but also a very slight hint of bitterness from the wood treatment. The bitterness will probably round out and my range offers the benefit of the doubt. Tasted: Jan 15, 2014. Drink: 2018+