2015 Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru

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.