2015 Corton Le Rognet Grand Cru

Bruno Clavelier described the frost event of late April as “very odd, very heterogeneous." He explained, "The thick blanket of frigid air that flowed in through the Combe Brûlée extended as far as Echézeaux and Combe d’Orveau; we made just seven hectoliters per hectare in Combe d’Orveaux. But the south side of Vosne-Romanée was spared. In the severely frosted parcels there was a tiny second generation of grapes but they budded two to three weeks later. And then the good weather started in July, which allowed the second generation of grapes to catch up in ripeness.” Clavelier produced barely 18 hectoliters per hectare in his village parcels and about 28 in his premier crus, with his Corton just slightly touched by the frost.

Clavelier started harvesting on September 22, with “no problems with the sugars.” There was a lot of millerandage due to stress on the vines but the grapes were fairly normal-sized, he added. And the tannins were ripe and noble. He carried out a number of micro-vinifications due to the tiny quantities and he had to press the grapes carefully. He worked with some whole clusters--in most cases at least 30%--often simply to have a bit more volume in his tanks. Still, he described the vinifications as "serene," in contrast to the very complicated growing season.

The malos took place between early winter and spring and the wines were still in barrel at the time of my visit. Clavelier describes the ‘16s as “very Burgundian, with nice balance and good energy and lovely amplitude of their terroirs. The wines are now showing an interesting viscosity but they’re fresh in addition to showing the sunny summer. But the 2015s are denser and stronger in material. With thick skins and a lot of millerandage, the '15s have a lot of force but they also maintained good balance."

Clavelier described 2015 as “a dream harvest with tiny, thick-skinned grapes and a lot of millerandage.” He harvested from September 5 through 12, finishing just before three days of rain. “With so little volume of juice, we had to be careful with extraction, even if the strong material could support it,” said Clavelier, who told me that he always carries out the same number of pigeages and remontages. But Clavelier maintains that he works more by infusion than extraction, with three weeks of maceration: one before, one during and one after the actual fermentation.

As is his usual habit, Clavelier showed me approximations of the final blends, pulled from multiple barrels. He used 20% to 25% new oak for his village wines in 2015 and 33% for the premier crus. Clavelier noted that pHs are always low here (3.35 to 3.4 “at a maximum”) owing to the estate's high percentage of old vines with deep roots.