2022 Corton Le Rognet Grand Cru

This is a domaine I have been tasting and visiting for many years, though it was the first time I had been back since the pandemic. As usual, we entered his tasting room full of the various fossils and rock types strewn across the table, Clavelier demonstrating each one as we tasted through his range. I could touch and even smell the terroir from which that cuvée was born. He told me that in 2022, the véraison was a bit strung out and that he picked from August 28 to September 8. These days, he finds calculating the picking date according to the 100-day from flowering rule redundant. Instead, he accepts an 80 or 90-day growth cycle. Tasting through his wines, I was reminded of his infusive, transparent style of winemaking, his wines exuding red fruit and that essence of Pinoté not dissimilar to, say, Charles Lachaux, in the winery on the opposite side of the RN74. Indeed, you could argue that in some respects, Lachaux is following the path trodden by Clavelier, stylistically if not in terms of modus operandi. “I am not looking for color or tannins,” he emphasizes. He is one of the winemakers who elected to bottle early, and you could argue that a second winter in barrel would not add to the style of Pinot Noir he makes. The top cuvées in Vosne-Romanée are amongst the best he has made, but readers should look out for his Vin de France white and reds, whose vines lie just outside the appellation border.