2017 Beaune Grèves 1er Cru

Here is another producer that I have visited for donkey’s years that I was denied thanks to my forcibly curtailed trip last autumn. Having tasted a few cuvées at the London tastings in January, I met with Véronique Drouhin-Boss to taste a selection of whites and reds at their tasting room in the centre of Beaune. “We picked the Chardonnay after the Pinot Noir,” she explained. “You had to be in the vineyards every day. The date of picking was tricky. It meant we could play with the whole cluster. The Chardonnay had beautiful lees. The acidity is very good as there wasn't a big drop after malo. There was just a little bâtonnage.”

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."

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 Drouhins are not the only large-scale purchaser of grapes, must and wine who have been affected by soaring prices for Pinot Noir on the Côte d’Or. Frédéric Drouhin noted that his family is still buying village wines “but at today’s prices the crus don’t make economic sense.” Surely this suggests that Burgundy is at, or approaching, a cyclical extreme—although Mother Nature will have a lot to say about that in 2017. I tasted a limited sample of Drouhin’s 2014s in December. Frédéric Drouhin described the vintage as “more of a cold year than a warm year. The level of acidity is good but not aggressive.”

The Drouhins are not the only large-scale purchaser of grapes, must and wine who have been affected by soaring prices for Pinot Noir on the Côte d’Or Frédéric Drouhin noted that his family is still buying village wines “but at today’s prices the crus don’t make economic sense” Surely this suggests that Burgundy is at, or approaching, a cyclical extreme—although Mother Nature will have a lot to say about that in 2017 I tasted a limited sample of Drouhin’s 2014s in December Frédéric Drouhin described the vintage as “more of a cold year than a warm year The level of acidity is good but not aggressive”

Véronique Drouhin told me it was hard to compare 2013 to another vintage. At my urging, though, she made two attempts: "More pleasant than 2005 but not as dense or long-lived," and "not as acid as 2008." I liked the definition and quality of tannins of the Drouhin '13s.

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).

"It's hard to ask for better," said Philippe Drouhin of the 2005 growing season. "The only thing we could have asked for was better yields. The yields were low because it was very dry." (Production in Grands-Echezeaux, Echezeaux, Amoureuses and Musigny were also cut by hail in May.) Drouhin told me that the family harvested slightly later than most of their colleagues. "This was the right strategy for the pinot noir, but in retrospect we could have picked the chardonnay a bit earlier," he said. The 2005 reds seem set for a long and positive evolution in bottle. "My father compares 2005 to 1961," said Philippe, adding that the '61s are still very good today. Long-time winemaker Laurence Jobard, who was set to retire at the end of 2006 after having made 30 vintages here, also raved about 2005: "I've been vinifying a long time, but this may be my best vintage ever. The '05s have a sweetness like 1985 but more richness." (Note that I reviewed the finished Drouhin 2004s back in Issue 125.)

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.

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.

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."