Domaine Drouhin-Laroze visit in June 2014

In June 2014 we visited Domaine Drouhin-Laroze. These notes were taken from notes written by Thierry and me at the tasting.

We were received first by Christine Drouhin who showed us the cellars. Philippe Drouhin joined us for the tasting. This was a delightful and generous encounter. The holdings of the family are spectacular. We ended up tasting more Grand Crus than anything else; not a common occurrence.

Of the total, 95% of the Domaine’s wines are exported. The house has a négoce business too (Maison Laroze de Drouhin). In 2009, 45,000 bottles were produced by the Domaine and 29,000 for the négoce. Those figures were much lower in the subsequent vintages.

Philippe made some interesting comments about the 2009 vintage, which he compared with 1990. He saw 2009 as a long keeping vintage, he expects to be drinking after his '10s, '11s and '12s are finished. Philippe said that he had just finished his 2004s. Philippe said he had "mixed feelings" about '03s and '06s, but that he likes '08s.

Philippe said that the difference between 1990 and 2009 was that the vineyard practice is now so much better. Practices changed in 2000, in 2001 Drouhin-Laroze acquired sorting tables. In the '90s they used to have three people working in the vineyards, now it's nine.

Yield is a factor. Drouhin-Laroze aims for 35 HL per HA for Grand Cru and 30-45 at 1er and Villages levels. Philippe however does not like yields much lower than that.

In 2013 the Domaine produced 30% less than a vintage such as 2009. Elevage is 90% new oak for Grands Crus, 45% for 1ers and 30% for village wines. There is no racking post fermentation and until bottling. Philippe said he applied the same non-interventionist approach to all of wines. He adopts what he calls a "sensible approach" to Bio D.

All the wines we tasted were out of barrels and most of them before malolactic fermentation or as this was just starting.

We started the tasting with two Maison Laroze-Drouhin wines. The Domaine wines are sourced from producers who get paid by the surface area managed not by the yied which allows the Domaine to make critical decisions in the growing process. There, like in the Domaine wines, they practice green harvest.

• 2013 Laroze de Drouhin Bourgogne

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne

  A wine pre-malolactic fermentation showing plums, spices and dark fruit. Pungent and rich fruit with a solid backbone. Plenty of ripeness here and like other 2013s, this is showing good freshness and generous fruit. A little rustic and tannins very firm. This is approachable and will provide plenty of fruit expression.

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• 2013 Laroze de Drouhin Nuits-Saint-Georges La Charmotte

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges

  From La Charmotte, a lieu-dit between NSG and Vosne-Romanée. Deep colour. This has richer and deeper fruit with spices and finer tannins and acidity, providing good freshness. There is good grip and richness in the mouth. Powerful and concentrated with a lot of structure. A more serious wine with intense fruit flavours.

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• 2013 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Gevrey-Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin

  Malo had just started for this wine. For this Villages wine, grapes are sourced from eight different parcels and from a total of four hectares. This wine exudes the fragrance of small red berries, also earth, mixed spices and underbrush. A very Gevrey bouquet. On the palate, this is finer than previous wines, particularly in the tannin structure. Very good crunchy fruit with savoury and earthy notes. Racy acids. This has elegance. Persistent and rich. Lovely fruit.

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• 2013 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Au Closeau

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

  The Domaine is the only producer to bottle this wine. They own 80% percent of the cru. The 0.44 hectare vineyard was planted in 1943. Pre-malo, the colour of the wine was almost purple. This has rich fruit with savoury and gibier notes. Blood and iodine make this wine intriguing. Also on bouquet, notes of spice, plums and some earth. The palate has blood and fur, with good length. The wine coats the palate. This is quite succulent, a good quality, charming 1er, with ripe, round tannins. It has good depth and power.

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• 2013 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chapelle-Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru

  At this point we moved on to the centre of the cellar which we immediately coined 'Grand Cru Boulevard'. The Chapelle-Chambertin was very bright and clear. It had just started malo. However the wine shows good florality (mainly dark florals) and elegance. There is a smooth, almost sweet entry. It has crunchy and rich fruit and is velvety in the mouth. This has good balance already and the tannins are very fine. Not a big wine, but very poised. Good core of fresh fruit. The wine has a detailed, not a linear, flavour profile. Finishes on mineral notes.

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• 2013 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Latricières-Chambertin

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru

  Good garnet colour. This is more lifted, and it has savoury, tobacco and earthy notes. Lots of fruit and tannins on the palate. This is a bigger wine with good structure and a crystalline freshness. It is strict on the mid palate and explosive on the back palate. Again, there is richness of fruit and fully ripe tannins here. I thought that the wine was excellent.

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• 2013 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Bonnes Mares

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Very deep, impenetrable colour. Tightly coiled with rich berries, including boysenberries and dark cherries, on the nose. A deep, powerful and earthy bouquet. Very tight entry, with crunchy fruit, good weight, very long; tannins kick in at the end but they initially sneak in your mouth, rather than punching their way through. The wine takes you to fruit to spice, and finally, to structure. This is a huge but very elegant Bonnes-Mares. This very much impressed us with its combination of power and elegance. The wine has the appealing marks of the vintage with rich crunchy fruit and fully ripe tannins. Outstanding!

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• 2013 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Clos Vougeot

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru

  Deep, dark colour. Earthy on bouquet, very dark fruited, with some spice. Almost notes of Barolo tar, smokey and charred. In the mouth, very sappy with dark fruits and earth on the front palate and iron and rocks on the back palate, with very big tannins. Some charry and smokey flavours. This is a huge wine: solid core of wine with stone, iron and rock. This is what I expected of the Bonnes Mares rather than the Vougeot. It seemed like a 20-30+ year wine.

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• 2013 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Chambertin-Clos de Bèze

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru

  Impenetrable, very dark colour. On the nose, crushed red and dark berries and warm earth, with a gibier streak. On the palate, ripe and crunchy fruit and delicious with soft tannins. Huge concentration and power with elegance and finesse. Excellent, cultured, fine grained tannins. A long and persistent wine; impressive power and elegance. Very good!

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• 2013 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Musigny

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Only two barrels of this wine were made. Because of the small quantity and the challenges this presents for the winemaker, Philippe used less pigeage than for the other wines and exerted a bit more control on temperatures during fermentation. Colour iridescent red. Florals and dark fruit on bouquet. Also, powerful fruit and gibier. In the mouth, a very densely packed wine, yet it has elegance; it does not hit you in the face but grows in size and richness in the mouth and after the long finish. A depth charger of a wine, in the mouth, there is a time delay before the explosion. The quality of tannins is exceptional: they are fine grained, crystalline and deceptively powerful. This is already a wine with a peacock's tail. Quite a treat. Excellent!

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For Philippe 2013 is an elegant vintage with good fruit but he does not see it, at this point, as a long-term vintage. Philippe like most other producers we met on this trip likes to drink wine “sur le fruit”.

This was an exceptional tasting and to walk along the Grand Cru boulevard was a great experience. The wines are distinctive, carefully nurtured and very expressive.