2000 Clos Vougeot, Grand Cru, Domaine Jacques Prieur, Burgundy

Jacques Prieur

For years Domaine Jacques Prieur was in a slow and seemingly terminal decline, with quantity rather than quality being the byword. The guardian angel arrived in the form of Mercurey-based négociants Antonin Rodet in the late 1980s. Rodet's oenologist, Nadine Gublin, has been the driving force behind the renaissance in quality which now rivals the very finest producers on the Côte. The Domaine is today owned 70% by the Labruyère family and 30% by the Prieurs.

The roots of the revival lie in the vineyards where fewer pesticides and herbicides are being used and, come harvest time, there is now a far more rigid selection of the best fruit. The results are a revelation. They have an exceptional range of grand cru vineyards – including the grandest of the grand, such as Montrachet, Musigny and Chambertin. But perhaps because the domaine’s holdings are dispersed up and down the Côte that it has not enjoyed the first rate reputation that one might have expected. The wines are certainly good, but perhaps just short of the flair which would place them in the very top division. There is a conscious decision to pick relatively late and make flamboyantly full-bodied wines.

Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director and author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.

Vougeot

Most of the wine produced in this small village comes from a single, walled Grand Cru vineyard, the famous Clos de Vougeot. The vineyard in its present form dates from 1336 (when it was first planted by monks of Cîteaux), although it was not until the following century that it was entirely enclosed by stone walls. 

• Five hectares of village Vougeot
• 12 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (four in all): Les Cras, Les Petits-Vougeots, Clos de la Perrière and Clos Blanc de Vougeot
• 51 hectares of Grand Cru vineyard – Clos de Vougeot
• Recommended producers:  Domaine de la Vougeraie, Domaine Bertagna, Engel, Anne Gros, Grivot, Liger-Belair, Meo-Camuzet.

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.

Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.

The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.