Beaune Clos des Mouches Rouge, Joseph Drouhin 2016

The 2016 Clos des Mouches rouge was one of the few wines in the cellars this year to include ten percent whole clusters. The wine was a touch reduced at the time of my visit, but with a little coaxing in the glass, its quality became very easy to read. The nose eventually offers up a lovely and nicely black fruity blend of sweet dark berries, black cherries, fresh thyme, a superb signature of soil, gamebird, espresso and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and very refined in profile, with a sappy core of black fruit, lovely transparency, suave tannins and great length and grip on the nascently complex finish. This wine reminds me aromatically and in terms of flavors very much of the superb 1993 Clos des Mouches, but the structural elements here are more refined and the wine will be more elegant when it is fully mature. Needless to say, that is a very good combination! Drink between 2026-2075

Shy nose with only a hint of raspberry and cranberry fruit, plus generous oak. Fine tannins that give grip on the finish, and there's a strong soy and iodine savoury character that lingers too. Pretty tart and restrained. Almost eye-watering in its tension. 2021-2036