1998 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

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."