2005 Vosne-Romanée Les Petits Monts 1er Cru

“In April, we realized there was a disparity between villages in terms of the water,” Frédéric Drouhin tells me in their tasting room. “We had frost in Chablis on the night of April 3. May was variable in terms of rainfall with a little hail on Morey-Saint-Denis and Chambolle. Mid-flowering was on June 5 in Meursault and the following day in Côte de Nuits, similar to 2015. The flowering went quickly because it was hot. August was unseasonably autumnal, then it became very hot at the end, between August 18 and 24 when the temperature was 36°C. It was warmer than 2022 by 0.2°C with 130 more hours of sunlight. Disease pressure was maintained with just a little oidium or mildew. On the eve of harvest, the berry analysis was similar to 2019 for the reds and 2018 for the whites. Picking began on September 2 in Côte de Beaune and two days later for the reds. We began the picking at 6:30 a.m. and stopped at midday so that the fruit was not too hot, therefore we had to maintain temperatures using frozen CO2. We had to sort the grapes as there was variability in quality, sometimes within the same vine – some sunburnt bunches, some lacking a bit of ripeness. In the end, we could still do a high proportion of whole cluster, 30-40%. We undertook a three-week alcoholic fermentation. All the reds are now pressed with a vertical press, which is very precise. We mainly use 500-liter casks that keeps the wine a little fresher. Overall, it is a seductive and generous vintage, alcohol levels 13-13.5%, which I expected to be higher. We did quite a long ageing on the lees, more pumping over than punching down.”

I had the pleasure of Véronique Drouhin’s daughter, Leanne, guiding me through their 2022s, which, incidentally, I tasted twice once a Zalto winged its way down to their winery from central Beaune. Re-tasting the wines in proper stemware, just as I had done a Clos de Tart a few days earlier, made such a difference to the showing of the wines. “The climate is a tough thing nowadays, especially for the vineyards,” Drouhin tells me. “We are thinking about experimenting with new practices, perhaps planting more trees and using cover crops, but it’s constantly changing. Since 2020, we have aged the whites a little longer on the lees if they are clean and good.”

Drouhin’s 2018s were tasted at a private tasting in London rather than Burgundy. This tasting is for professionals only, quiet and I can take my time, Véronique Drouhin on hand as usual to guide me through almost the complete portfolio from Village Crus that are often tremendous value-for-money, to the sought-after Grand Crus. Drouhin offered her own perspective on the 2018s: "It was a mild winter followed by rain," she began. "The beginning was cold and things did not start quickly. Budbreak was the beginning of April, then it became warm and the vines growth exploded so that in a couple of days there were five or six leaves. Flowering was 19 May, not particular early, then it was dry with sunlight and wind, so the vines grew very well. Véraison was mid-July, so we knew we would have an early vintage. August was extremely dry and we had no issues with botrytis or mildew. In 2018 is a very good vintage with good quantity, not huge. Harvest began on 29 August and finished around 6 September, so it was a condensed harvest, which meant long days in the vineyard. There was remarkable phenolic maturity so the alcohol is on the higher side, which is not ideal for Pinot Noir, but it is what it is. It was good for whole cluster. Primary fermentation for the whites was slow as the yeasts struggled with alcohol, so some alcohol levels are around 14%. There was remarkable quality of the lees. When we did the debourbage we included a lot of the lees in the barrels. Every sample shown here is the final blend. We did almost no lees-stirring as we did not want the whites to be too big and to respect the vintage. For the reds we did less pigeage this year to moderate the extraction."

“Everyone in Burgundy is smiling again,” Véronique Drouhin began, her own smile undisguised. “The 2017 vintage is the first vintage overseen by our new vineyard manager, Jullien Pallisse. It was warmer and drier than normal, with 200 hours more sunshine than usual. There was a little less rain. February and March were warmer, so bud-break started early. The one problem was the mange Bouchon, which you can’t do much about unless you have chickens. Oïdium was easy to control. April was cold again from the 18th but there was incredible solidarity, with growers helping each other, lighting bales of hay when there was a risk of frost. This was very efficient in obscuring the sunlight the following morning, just for 30 to 60 [crucial] minutes. We also put every candle we could find in the vineyard, except in Chablis. The véraison started at the end of July and finished at the end of August, the Chardonnay starting before the Pinot Noir. There was excellent maturity in the grapes. The acidity is low but there was hardly any malic acidity.”

The harvest kicked off in the Côte de Beaune on September 1 and the Côte de Nuits six days later. Most of the reds underwent a three-week cuvaison, whilst Drouhin practiced less bâtonnage for the whites since they felt that the lees were of good quality. The wines are aged in 30% new oak for most of the whites and reds. Many of the whites were bottled in July 2018, though the top Premier and Grand Crus remain in barrel up until the end of the year.

Tasting through over 40 wines, it is clear that there is much to enjoy courtesy of Drouhin this year, and not only amongst their bevy of Premier and Grand Crus. Their whites are particularly strong and I would single out the Chassagne-Montrachet Embazées, Meursault Charmes and Puligny-Montrachet Village as worthy of serious consideration. The reds also offer their fair share of delights, such as the Beaune Sizies, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru (a blend of three outstanding climats) and a serious Chambolle Les Amoureuses, among the best I encountered.

Technical director/winemaker Jérôme Faure-Brac described 2016 as a “a very complicated year meteorologically, with a very rainy, humid spring, lots of mildew and the severe frost that, unusually, affected the hillsides." The harvest, he went on, was the longest he could recall, "with a good window for picking." Drouhin started harvesting Pinot Noir on the Côte de Beaune on September 24, but some of their purchased grapes on the Hautes-Côtes came in as late as October 11. Owing to the often-severe crop losses, Drouhin made a lot of tiny cuvées, often vinifying with a percentage of whole clusters to add volume to the fermenters. Faure-Brac noted that he also did a bit more “_vinification intégrale” in barrels to get more aromatic complexity and gentler extraction than in previous vintages.

Except for the Nuits Procès, Chambolle Baudes, Mazis-Chambertin and Clos Vougeot, which finished their malolactic fermentations very late, the ‘16s were bottled in December. Faure-Brac told me he likes the classic side of the vintage; he describes the wines as “very tasty and with good tension.” As a general rule, he finds a blacker fruit character and slightly higher pHs in the wines from frosted sites, while the vineyards that were mostly spared yielded redder fruit flavors. And the frosted wines are a bit less suave on the attack, he added.

Faure-Brac described 2015 as “a vintage of heat, less classic than 2016 but given energy by the use of whole clusters." Interestingly, Drouhin carried out longer post-fermentation maceration than usual (between five and eight days) in both 2016 and 2015, in 2016 because the wines were gaining in volume and complexity and in 2015 due to the serious tannins of the vintage. The ‘15s got a slightly later bottling than the ‘16s, in February and March of 2017.

According to Frédéric Drouhin, the rains of early August unblocked the vines after the very dry July, speeding up the ripening process while giving the grapes a juicier character. In the end, the fruit was thick-skinned and extremely healthy, requiring virtually no sorting. (Drouhin started picking Pinot Noir on September 3 and finished with Mazi-Chambertin on September 18.) All of the Drouhin village wines were destemmed but the premier crus were made with between 10% and 40% whole clusters. Total maceration times were longer than usual but punchdowns were “very limited, to avoid extracting more tannins," according to Frédéric. "We had to vinify the 2015s with white gloves because everything was there and we didn’t need to extract a lot,” he explained. He added that the week after the fermentations ended was “the most important period for getting a harmony of components. The post-fermentation maceration brought more depth and velvetiness. The wines were also getting drier so at some point it was time to finish.” Drouhin added that the family’s new vertical press gives them better control over the last liters of juice in the tank (the fin de presse), which they now generally declassify in order to make more precise wines. Incidentally, some of Drouhin's 2015s were in tank at the time of my December tasting but most were still in barrels.

The sorting here was “critical and precise” in 2014 owing to the fly issues, said Véronique Drouhin, who noted that there were almost no problems with the Drosophila suzukii on the Côte de Beaune owing to the tiny crop levels. Yields were much better on the Côte de Nuits, she told me. The team started harvesting on both Côtes on September 15, and did not chaptalize its Côte de Beaune cuvées. “The pHs in 2014 are not particularly high,” said Drouhin. “A lot of the wines are delicious already but the top Gevreys, like the Mazi-Chambertin, will need a lot of time. ” Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to see a couple of the Drouhin wines made in tiny quantities, like the Chambolle Amoureuses and Griotte-Chambertin.

The 2013 growing season was 15 to 18 days late from the start, said Véronique Drouhin, who added that rain during the third week of June led to a lot of coulure and millerandage in the estate's old vines on the Côte de Nuits and sharply reduced potential yields. July then brought nice weather, except for the very damaging hail storm on the 23rd, which resulted in crop losses between 20% and 80% in affected areas on the Côte de Beaune. It was necessary to wait for phenolic maturity of the Pinot Noir, and the family used an optical sorter and a vibrating table to do a careful elimination of damaged and underripe fruit. The malos occurred fairly quickly, at their normal time, and Drouhin described the élevage of the young 2013s as easy. But as the wines had begun a bit simple, the family did a lot of work with the lees. As there was very little reduction, the wines had not yet been racked at the time of my November visit. Véronique expressed the opinion that the wines from Chambolle-Musigny were particularly expressive of their terroir in 2013, while her brother Frédéric described the '13s as "precise, nuanced and not overwhelming, with good freshness and textured tannins." He finds them rather austere in their youth.

"Overall, the 2012 reds show good aging capacity, more for the Côte de Nuits wines than the Côte de Beaune," said Frédéric Drouhin. "Personally, I will keep the 2012s longer than the 2013s—maybe 15 years for the top reds." His sister Véronique added that she thought the '12s would age very well but that they would not shut down in bottle--"a little like the 2009s."

Brother and sister Frédéric and Veronique Drouhin were quite sanguine about the 2012 harvest when I stopped by last fall. The vintage was tough for many growers, but Drouhin was hit especially hard. Yields at Clos des Mouches, one of the family's flagship vineyards, came in an achingly low 6-8 hectoliters per hectare. Frédéric Drouhin describes the 2012s as similar in style of the 2010s, but with lower acidities. The little fruit that did come in was healthy and ripe. Malos finished quickly, leading Drouhin to bottle earlier than most. The Grands-Echézeaux, Clos de Bèze, Musigny, Charmes and Bonnes-Mares were all in bottle at the time of this tasting, in November 2013. I hope to be able to taste those wines at some point in the future.

Domaine Drouhin appointed a new vineyard manager in 2012, as Xavier Guiraud retired after 14 years with the company, said Frederic Drouhin, and the new manager "saw everything in his first year--not to mention his second. In 2012, we had 80% impact from hail in some areas; coulure and millerandage; mildew and oidium pressures. A heat spike in August further cut the crop but did not cause rot. Good weather in September saved the harvest." The hailed-on grapes, added Drouhin, were very ripe and had good skin maturity. Winemaker Jerome Faure-Brac did little in the way of cold maceration, vinified most of his cuvees with 10% to 20% whole clusters, and carried out some additional maceration after the end of the fermentations "because the wines were gaining in volume every day." Needless to say, the Cote de Beaune reds are a mixed bag in 2012, but the estate's wines from the Cote de Nuits display the intensity and full ripeness of the vintage.

The Drouhins picked most of their fruit during the first week of September, according to Philippe Drouhin. There was a lot of downy and powdery mildew, which slowed down the maturation of the grapes at the end, he told me, adding that the Cote de Nuits ripened more easily than the Cote de Beaune due to the healthier foliage of the vines. The family eliminated some rotten grapes at harvest "but less than in 2008." Drouhin does not view the 2011s as fragile wines but does not see them as particularly long-lasting either. "They're lower in both alcohol and acidity than the 2010s," he noted. "But I can't name a weak point to the vintage." Nearly all of the wines were in tank by the time of my November visit, and the vintage was slated to be bottled in December and January, which Drouhin described as "early, to capture fruit and freshness."

This is an impressive showing from Drouhin. In my view the 2010s are more interesting and transparent than the 2009s. Véronique Drouhin describes 2010 as a vintage with long-term aging potential, which certainly seems to be the case. Some of the wines were vinified with a portion of whole clusters, including the Corton-Bressandes, Petits-Monts, Charmes and Musigny.

According to Frederic Drouhin, vintage 2010 brought balance and purity across the greater Burgundy region. The 2009s, he noted, " are ripe, sweet and seductive, but terroir differences were erased by the warm weather. The 2010s have less alcohol but more acidity, and superb balance. They will age gracefully." The 2010 harvest took place between September 21 and 29. Although the fruit was lower in sugar than that of 2009, many cuvees were not chaptalized. Due in part to the late malos, the Drouhin 2010s will be bottled later than usual; in most cases, I tasted final blends that were ready for bottling.

Drouhin farms 75 hectares of vineyards according to biodynamic principles. Maceration and fermentation lasts about three weeks. The wines are then racked into oak in a cold part of the cellar to slow down the malos, although in 2009 they were entirely done by December. The estate leaves the wines on their lees for several months with one racking, or two if needed, prior to being assembled for bottling. New oak ranges from 25% for the entry-level wines to 50-65% for the grand crus. Véronique Drouhin thinks the 2009s will stay open throughout their lives, much as the 1985s have. All of these 2009s were bottled between early December, 2010 and January, 2011.

"Two thousand nine was easy in the vineyards and easy to harvest, without any time pressures," reported Frederic Drouhin, who told me that his family started picking pinot on September 8 but brought in most of its Cote de Nuits crus between September 12 and 15. "We did a bit of sorting to eliminate overripe grapes, as we thought it was critical to avoid overripeness in '09." Drouhin describes the young wines as "seductive, charming, commercial, ripe. The vintage character currently dominates the terroir; it's not a classic vintage like 2008. The '09s will probably be best for mid-term aging, since the fruit is so ripe and the acidity low." The Drouhins were just starting to bottle the wines at the time of my visit (most of these had been racked) and planned to finish by the end of January.

No 2008s were yet in bottle at the time of my mid-November visit to Joseph Drouhin, and the grand crus were still in barrel, unracked. Philippe Drouhin describes the vintage as "a tiny crop with very good structure and potential." The family started thinning the fruit in late July to increase the speed of ripening during late summer. There was botrytis in August in the early-ripening vineyards, he told me, and these grapes were carefully eliminated. In any event, rot was more of an issue at harvest time than underripe grapes, and grape sugars were "good to very good." The acidity levels in the wines are higher than in 2009, 2007 or 2006, added Veronique Drouhin, who told me that the '08s resemble the 1978s in their high acids and slow malos. "In comparison," she added, "1996 was a drier style of wine." (Note that the Drouhin 2007s were reviewed from bottle in Issue 143.)

The end of July and August of 2007 were wet, noted Philippe Drouhin, adding that "difficult weather after veraison is never good for the quality of the grapes. But luckily we had good weather after that and we took advantage of the dry period to harvest, starting in early September and then stopping for several days for better ripeness." The family's Clos des Mouches parcel was picked in several components over a period of a week. In the end, says Drouhin, the 2007 reds are a bit lighter but more focused than the 2006s, with better definition of terroir. And the best wines, he added, are those that ripened later. Incidentally, the Drouhins prefer to drink their 2006s on the early side but plan to cellar more bottles of their 2007s. (My notes on the finished 2006s appeared in Issue 137.)

Winemaker Jerome Faure-Brac described 2006 as "difficult in terms of the rainy August, especially in the normally colder spots and on clay soils, where there was a lot of rot. But the amount of rot varied widely, and in certain places we got very good ripeness." He went on: "In places where the maturity was affected by hail, such as Griottes-Chambertin, we did a softer vinification. We had good sugars but only moderate phenolic maturity, so we didn't want to extract green tannins." The 2006s reviewed in this issue were bottled at the end of August. By the way, there were some real standouts here in 2005: this rich and often quite powerful vintage provided near-perfect raw materials for the delicate, scented Drouhin style. I tasted a few of these wines chez Drouhin in November, the rest in New York this winter. (Dreyfus-Ashby & Co., New York, NY) Also recommended: Volnay Clos des Chenes (85+?), Beaune Greves (86), Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Proces (86).

The 2004 harvest required very careful sorting, Philippe Drouhin reported, especially in the hailed-on areas but also to eliminate rotten grapes. "And of course we also had to eliminate chardonnay grapes affected by oidium," he added. "It's easy to discard the grapes that are obviously affected by hail," said Drouhin, "but the intermediate berries that don't ripen further after the hail are harder to spot and eliminate at the time of harvest. "Drouhin described grape sugars as moderate:in the low 12% range on the Cote de Nuits, with the finished wines at or a bit higher than 13%. Most of the 2004s were bottled before the 2005 harvest. In my tasting, the cru bottlings were considerably more successful than the village wines. (I found the village wines from Volnay and Gevrey to be peppery and only modestly ripe, while my sample of the Chambolle villages was too evolved. )The Drouhins had not yet decided whether they would offer any Clos des Mouches; it's possible that there will be a little for the domestic French market. For notes on Drouhin's very strong set of 2003s, please refer to Issue 119; I retasted these wines this winter and scored every bottle within a point of last year's samples, with the exception of the Bonnes-Mares, which was much sappier, thicker and more perfumed than the rather stunted bottle I tried last year, with a tactile, clinging finish, and merited a score of 92.

The Drouhins began harvesting their parcels on August 20, but, according to Philippe Drouhin, were ready to pick even earlier than that."Normally we don't like to harvest until the vegetative cycle is over, no matter what the numbers say," Philippe told me."But I admit that this year was different:the pips were already brown.We didn't pull leaves, but some leaves simply burned off in the sun.But don't forget the benefit of having not a trace of rot."The extent of the drought effect ranges widely in 2003, said Philippe, depending on soil composition and age of vines."But even if there was different drought stress in different parts of a vineyard due to the varying depth of the soil, we still had to pick each vineyard in one pass," he went on."In Amoureuses, for example, I would have liked to pick in tries.The vines softened first in the steep part of the vineyard, where there was more burning of the grapes, and I would have harvested there first."Some cuvees were acidified and others not, based on water stress and harvest dates.Philippe wryly summarized, "I'm certainly not sure about anything having to do with this vintage."

The Drouhins began harvesting their parcels on August 20, but, according to Philippe Drouhin, were ready to pick even earlier than that."Normally we don't like to harvest until the vegetative cycle is over, no matter what the numbers say," Philippe told me."But I admit that this year was different:the pips were already brown.We didn't pull leaves, but some leaves simply burned off in the sun.But don't forget the benefit of having not a trace of rot."The extent of the drought effect ranges widely in 2003, said Philippe, depending on soil composition and age of vines."But even if there was different drought stress in different parts of a vineyard due to the varying depth of the soil, we still had to pick each vineyard in one pass," he went on."In Amoureuses, for example, I would have liked to pick in tries.The vines softened first in the steep part of the vineyard, where there was more burning of the grapes, and I would have harvested there first."Some cuvees were acidified and others not, based on water stress and harvest dates.Philippe wryly summarized, "I'm certainly not sure about anything having to do with this vintage."

An easy year with no particular difficulties," was how Philippe Drouhin described vintage 2002. The wines don't require a long elevage and will be bottled earlier than usual, probably by the end of 2003."Philippe told me he thinks the 2002s will evolve fairly rapidly but noted that winemaker Laurence Jobard thinks they'll last well.Crop levels in 2002 were down slightly from those of 2001.

An easy year with no particular difficulties," was how Philippe Drouhin described vintage 2002. The wines don't require a long elevage and will be bottled earlier than usual, probably by the end of 2003."Philippe told me he thinks the 2002s will evolve fairly rapidly but noted that winemaker Laurence Jobard thinks they'll last well.Crop levels in 2002 were down slightly from those of 2001.

All of the Drouhin family's holdings are farmed organically, and six hectares are now farmed according to the more radical precepts of biodynamie Organic viticulture produces riper fruit earlier, Veronique Drouhin told me, which means that the family needs to do less crop thinning to arrive at the same yields. As the Drouhins have improved their vineyard techniques, they plan to drop some of their long-time suppliers, even some with grand cru holdings, because they find their fruit "no longer acceptable," according to winemaker Laurence Jobard. Said Veronique: Our father wanted to bottle the 2001s very early, but then he left for his vacation and we decided to wait." Most of the 2001s had been racked a couple weeks prior to my visit, and were a bit hard-edged from sulfiting.

All of the Drouhin family's holdings are farmed organically, and six hectares are now farmed according to the more radical precepts of biodynamie Organic viticulture produces riper fruit earlier, Veronique Drouhin told me, which means that the family needs to do less crop thinning to arrive at the same yields. As the Drouhins have improved their vineyard techniques, they plan to drop some of their long-time suppliers, even some with grand cru holdings, because they find their fruit "no longer acceptable," according to winemaker Laurence Jobard. Said Veronique: Our father wanted to bottle the 2001s very early, but then he left for his vacation and we decided to wait." Most of the 2001s had been racked a couple weeks prior to my visit, and were a bit hard-edged from sulfiting.

Veronique Drouhin describes the 2000s as "wines not for long aging." The Drouhins carried out a double triage, the first one in the vineyard to eliminate damaged clusters. "The Cote de Beaune wines are uneven," said Veronique, "but the Cote de Nuits wines were easy to vinify." In November, the 2000s did not offer the same verve as Drouhin more perfumed and aromatically precise '99s, which should rank among this producer's top vintages of recent years. Veronique noted that the family has been harvesting later since 1995 in an attempt to get a more thorough expression of terroir

The Drouhin reds, especially now that the grapes get a few days of cold maceration prior to the onset of fermentation, strike me as offering a near-perfect combination of aromatic precision and silky texture; few pinot noirs made outside Burgundy offer such compelling inner-mouth perfume. On my most recent visit to their large winemaking facility outside Beaune, I tasted blends of the major components of the '99s. Oddly, some of my usual favorites, such as the Chambolle 1er Cru and Amoureuses, and the Griottes-Chambertin, wines that normally please with their finesse, seemed a bit short on flesh in the '99 vintage. On the other hand, the '99s from the Cote de Beaune, such as the Beaune Clos des Mouches and the Volnay Clos des Chenes, appear to be particularly successful in '99. The Drouhins planned to bottle the wines in February and March of 2001. The '98s, in comparison, had a considerably longer levage(the grand crus were not bottled until September of 2000). But the best of them offer compelling purity and freshness of aromas for the vintage.

The Drouhin reds, especially now that the grapes get a few days of cold maceration prior to the onset of fermentation, strike me as offering a near-perfect combination of aromatic precision and silky texture; few pinot noirs made outside Burgundy offer such compelling inner-mouth perfume. On my most recent visit to their large winemaking facility outside Beaune, I tasted blends of the major components of the '99s. Oddly, some of my usual favorites, such as the Chambolle 1er Cru and Amoureuses, and the Griottes-Chambertin, wines that normally please with their finesse, seemed a bit short on flesh in the '99 vintage. On the other hand, the '99s from the Cote de Beaune, such as the Beaune Clos des Mouches and the Volnay Clos des Chenes, appear to be particularly successful in '99. The Drouhins planned to bottle the wines in February and March of 2001. The '98s, in comparison, had a considerably longer levage(the grand crus were not bottled until September of 2000). But the best of them offer compelling purity and freshness of aromas for the vintage.

The Drouhin reds, especially those wines from their own vines (as opposed to their negociant bottlings, from purchased grapes and/or wine), are consistently supple, perfumed wines that impress more with their precise, complex aromas than with their sheer palate presence in early tastings. Yet these gently extracted wines can offer surprising longevity, strong evidence that balance is the key to graceful aging in bottle. After the fruit is sorted on a table de trie, then destemmed and crushed, it is moved into the fermenters without being pumped. Vinification is done in a combination of small wood vats, small vertical stainless steel vats and larger stainless steel fermenters. The producer's Clos des Mouches uses all three types of fermenters, says vineyard manager Philippe Drouhin, "and we don't notice a bit of difference among these vessels, although it is easy to overextract in the large tanks if one is not careful." Following a 12-hour decanting in stainless steel, the wines are moved by gravity to the barrel cellar, where a relatively low percentage of new oak is used for aging. Philippe made it clear that the house is aware of criticism that its wines privilege aroma over body. "In fact, we've done a bit more cold maceration since the '95 vintage," notes Philippe. "But it's always tricky to extract more without losing the finesse of pinot noir."

The Drouhin reds, especially those wines from their own vines (as opposed to their negociant bottlings, from purchased grapes and/or wine), are consistently supple, perfumed wines that impress more with their precise, complex aromas than with their sheer palate presence in early tastings. Yet these gently extracted wines can offer surprising longevity, strong evidence that balance is the key to graceful aging in bottle. After the fruit is sorted on a table de trie, then destemmed and crushed, it is moved into the fermenters without being pumped. Vinification is done in a combination of small wood vats, small vertical stainless steel vats and larger stainless steel fermenters. The producer's Clos des Mouches uses all three types of fermenters, says vineyard manager Philippe Drouhin, "and we don't notice a bit of difference among these vessels, although it is easy to overextract in the large tanks if one is not careful." Following a 12-hour decanting in stainless steel, the wines are moved by gravity to the barrel cellar, where a relatively low percentage of new oak is used for aging. Philippe made it clear that the house is aware of criticism that its wines privilege aroma over body. "In fact, we've done a bit more cold maceration since the '95 vintage," notes Philippe. "But it's always tricky to extract more without losing the finesse of pinot noir."