2015 Beaune Clos des Mouches Blanc
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Tasting notes
Pale yellow with a green tinge. More minerally and complex on the nose than the '16, offering hints of iodine and wild herbs, along with a toasty nuance; a bit reduced, reticent and deep. Fat and ripe on the palate but surprisingly dry owing to lovely mineral-driven vinosity. The wine's stone fruit flavors are in the deep background today and it's distinctly deeper-pitched than the more floral 2016. Still, this very concentrated, layered wine manages to hide the heat of the vintage. Finishes pure and very long, with solid structure owing to its firm acid grip and a slightly phenolic note of grape skins. In this generally dry, warm growing season, the weather was brutally hot in July but the vines benefited from rainfall at "just the right time" in August, noted Véronique Drouhin. (The family begin harvesting during the first few days of September.) In fact, this wine is higher in acidity and lower in pH than the 2016 version and appears destined for a slow evolution in bottle. (22 h/h; 3.12 pH; 4.4 g/l acidity)
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2015 Beaune Clos des Mouches Blanc 1er Cru has an upfront, quite oaky bouquet, although there seems to be plenty of fruit packed in behind it. That should be absorbed over the next two or three years. The well-balanced palate features tropical tones of passion fruit, peach skin and a touch of nectarine. I appreciate the binding thread of acidity that keeps this on its toes. The slightly viscous aftertaste is satisfying; ditto the spiciness that becomes more prominent with aeration. Give this two or three years in bottle. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.
(bottled at the end of February): Palish yellow. Aromas of ripe pear, flowers, menthol, wet stone and subtle spices reveal a distinctly different, more smoky, iodiney minerality than the preceding wines. Rich, pure and opulent, showing a captivating sugar/acid balance and a touch of enlivening white pepper. Boasts a lovely combination of concentration and energy. Drouhin produced just 22 hectoliters per hectare here, owing to "the perturbations of the previous three years," according to enologist Jérôme Faure-Brac. Finishes saline, tactile and long, with a slightly phenolic character and firm structure. This wine is harmonious already, but Faure-Brac predicts that it and the Montrachet will be the longest-lived of the Drouhin 2015 whites.
About the producer
Joseph Drouhin is one of the largest and most famous producers in Burgundy, making both domaine and négociant wines. It remains family-owned and run, now in the hands of the fourth generation.