Prieuré Roch's Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2019 comes from just over half a hectare in the upper part of the Clos. The low-yield 2019 vintage gave concentrated wines that kept their freshness.
About This Wine
The Cistercians of Cîteaux planted Vougeot around 1100 and walled the Clos in about 1330. Under Pope Clement VI the monks split it into three cuvées, for the pope, the king and the monks. The banker Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard bought it in 1818, and his heirs sold it in 1889 to fifteen Côte négociants, which began the division into today's 50 or so hectares shared by more than 80 owners. Prieuré Roch's 0.6236 hectares sit in the part the domaine calls the royal terroir, where the gravel and stone of the upper slope give way to deeper, clay-rich but free-draining soils. The domaine describes its Clos de Vougeot as powerful, clean and square-cut, Cistercian in spirit. 2019 brought April frost, then a dry, warm summer; small, thick-skinned berries gave concentration, while good acidity kept the reds fresh.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Dark cherry and blackberry with violet, sweet spice and damp earth.
- Palate: Firm and structured, with dense fruit, fine tannins and a fresh finish to the palate.
- Finish: Long, with dark fruit and savoury, stony notes.
Serving & Food
Decant for an hour or so and use a broad Burgundy glass at about 16°C. Drink from 2027 into the early 2040s. It suits roast lamb with anchovy and rosemary, venison pie, or red-braised beef brisket.
How to Enjoy
A grand cru for the cellar, and for comparison with other Clos de Vougeot growers.
Product Details
Producer: Domaine Prieuré Roch
Country: France
Region: Côte de Nuits, Burgundy
Appellation: Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru
Vintage: 2019
Grape: Pinot Noir
Estate Holding: 0.6236 ha
Volume: 750mL
About the Domaine
Henry-Frédéric Roch was a grandson of Henri Leroy, and from 1992 until his death in 2018 he was co-director of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. He kept a low public profile there, but his own domaine, founded in 1988, was where his ideas about farming and winemaking were put into practice.
Those ideas were close to biodynamics and to what is now called natural wine: vines worked without synthetic treatments and grapes fermented as whole bunches with no added sulphite.