Bourgogne Terres de In the cellars Famille 2017. Life isn’t all The penultimate stage of ageing: about Musigny! Bottling the 2017 reds Ladu DOMAINE DElettre LA VOUGERAIE We produced almost 5,000 bottles N°58. January 2019 of white and around 13,000 of red Bourgogne Terres de Famille in 2017 and are very proud of these two . The Spirit of the Domaine The white comes from our vines on the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, which are ♦ the vines around 30 years old and grow on the in winter, Chaux plateau, and from déclassé wines Plowing our plots of our young vines of Premier Cru Clos of grand cru Blanc de Vougeot and the Grand Cru whites with horses Bâtard-Montrachet, that are too young still to be included in these much It may seem incredible, but it’s true! The Domaine de la ♦ family photo bigger wines. The grapes were full of Vougeraie is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2019! It was energy, hailing from some exceptional in 1999 that we brought together our different family plots terroir, bringing a certain extra soul An emerging style that’s all about fruit for keeping despite offering such low yields, 2017 acquired over time under a single banner with the shared value ♦ Two Thomases to this white Bourgogne that a very The last red village and grand cru appellations is more generous with more usual quantities and a of excellence without compromise. That banner is Vougeot, on the up! our family fiefdom, which, at the time, represented around one influential critic recently declared wor- from 2017 are due to be bottled in early Februa- more delicate style that should be drunk sooner. contents third of the estate. Since then, we have acquired other plots and thy of a premier cru. The grapes were ry. Apart from Les Marconnets. The wines have ♦ today, the estate covers 44 hectares, all of which are cultivated ♦ Bourgogne beautifully ripe, offering intense per- been racked off from the barrels where they spent As for the whites, the grand crus, the Puligny-Mon- according to biodynamic principles. Terres sonality to this very long and complex 16 months before being brought up to the - trachet Premier Cru Champ Gain, the Vougeot Clos ♦ de Famille wine we’d like to drink every day. It was ry, where they will spend two or three weeks in du Prieuré, the Puligny-Montrachet, the Savigny- That determination continues today, along with the ideal of bottled in December. stainless steel to harmonize into a single cuvée. lès-Beaune, and the Clos Blanc de Vougeot are still producing wines that exude the personality of our 72 plots. We ♦ in the cellar ♦ in the cellar. They will be bottled in the spring. hope that 2019 will be just as dazzling as our first harvest, and we send you our very warmest wishes for this festive new year – let bottling of The red was bottled much earlier, They are already expressing a lovely fruity perso- ♦ us continue to move mountains together! the 2017 reds back on 25 July. It is a blend from our nality. On the Côte de Nuits, it is an aromatic fra- They are already tasting well, and we are delighted. vines on the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune mework of dark berries like cherry and blackcur- They are extraordinarily precise, from the simplest The Boisset family and the entire Domaine de la Vougeraie team and Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, and those rant, sometimes with a hint of blackberry. On the to the most sophisticated cuvée. Their personali- of Vougeot Les Crotots, along with Côte de Beaune, it’s all about red berry flavors of ties are already very expressive, rather floral on the déclassée wine from our young vines in strawberry and raspberry. The wines from the Côte nose, and with a lot of fruit over a very broad aro- All Domaine de la Vougeraie wines are certified organic Volnay, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier de Nuits are broader, more structured, and more matic palette. The village wines are full of fruit and THIS SEASON’S WINES Cru Clos de Thorey, Gevrey-Chamber- complex. Those from the Côte de Beaune are more dried flowers. The grand crus are more complex. But tin Les Evocelles, and just a touch of vigorous. the defining component of the whites of 2017 at the Côte de Beaune Gevrey-Chambertin Pommard Les Pierres Beaune La Montée Rouge to nourish ♦ estate is their magnificent balance – the holy grail Les Evocelles Les Petits Noizons Blanches 2015 this exquisite aromatic richness. The of any wine! 2015 If one compares them to the reds of 2016, a 2017 A deep and luminous red color. Fresh and fruity on the nose, Lovely aromatic expression with red is currently a little closed because that was all about concentration and power, and one A lovely, lively color. Fruity with elegant notes of peppery raspberry, cherry, and licorice. aromas, notes of peach and white red berries. Aromas are intense of the cold, so we look forward to Rich and sophisticated but blossom. and precise. without being too heavy – this is Good balance in the mouth with Lovely energy in the mouth, sampling it in the spring when it has a more mineral wine. domaine de la vougeraie - 7 bis, rue de l’Eglise - 21700 PREMEAUX-PRISSEY lovely acidity, a slightly honeyed with fine tannins and a vigorous, A very pure, very terroir wine, flourished a little more. touch and flavors of tropical fruit. complex finish. FRANCE - www.domainedelavougeraie.com - domainedelavougeraie with generous breadth. Would make a wonderful Exquisite with bœuf bourguignon If you can, try it with new season TEL : (33) 03 80 62 48 25 - FAX : (33) 03 80 61 25 44 accompaniment to new-season or slow-cooked pork dishes. scallops truffles! [email protected] The vines in winter Two Thomases on the up! surface, bringing the purity we cru plots, those magnificent Plowing our plots of grand cru seek in our wines, extracting the vines of Chevalier-Montrachet Thomas Dumortier, whites with horses terroir, or the unique personality and Bâtard-Montrachet. As such, Head of the Côte de Beaune team of the soil. If they were forced these carthorses provide us with Thomas Dumor- to draw from the surface, they’d precious help to work the vines tier is 34 and has be much more fragile, especially with beauty and subtlety. They been working with the climate change we are bring their own nobility to that at the Domaine witnessing. In times of drought, of the terroir and help us produce de la Vougeraie they could dehydrate. In wet pe- magnificent wines. for the past five riods, they could rot. At night, Eric sleeps in his truck years. He has just ♦ in the vines, kitted out with all taken over the The virtues of using horses are the comforts he needs. He will be Côte de Beaune many. It avoids compacting the back in the spring – early April team, made up of earth beneath tractors, it im- brating the symbiosis of living if the weather allows, to earth three winegrowers and two laborers. proves the structure of the soil, things; animals and humans down the plants, ready for the He knows the 31 plots in 18 different it helps encourage the vines to with plants. new season. appellations for which he is now res- send their roots further down, ♦ ponsible like the back of his hand and and protects the plants. In more One of Eric’s coworkers is is delighted to be in charge of this little subtle terms, it is about cele- plowing our other white grand family.

Eole, a four-year-old horse that is just starting Henri Thomas, his career in the vines. Family photo our new Head of Growing 11 January. It’s a few degrees below freezing, and separated by a path. Eole carefully works his way Henri Thomas the Côte looks bare under the wintry sky with just a up and down these long, very steep slopes. Des- joined the team at glimmer of white sun showing through. It’s just after pite weighing some 600kg, the horse is lighter than the beginning of dawn and Eric André is already there, on the hill of a tractor. Eric walks behind him, using a harness, the year, bringing from where, on fine days, one can see the using his bodyweight to push the simple plowshare a wealth of expe- characteristic profile of Mont Blanc, like a Chinese no more than 10cm into the ground. Any deeper rience gathered shadow against the rising sun. would cause it to deform. Eole works for two hours at the Château ♦ and then Eric swaps him for another horse. This is de Mercey on the He left before the sun was up, loading Eole and the Eole’s first proper year of working, and despite two Côte Chalonnaise. older horses Tayga, Oregane, and Ulysse into the years of training, needs to build more muscle for the He comes from a family of winemaker- truck in Pont de Poitte in the Jura, close by the lakes hard work demanded of him. distillers in Cognac so is no stranger and the Cascade du Hérisson waterfall. This is the ♦ to grapes. Aged just 25, this young coldest corner of France, bordering Switzerland to Plowing these two plots will take a week. The soil agronomist, a graduate of the École the east, and the frost is hard. He drove his four must be broken down for the whole season. The pair d’Ingénieurs in Purpan near Toulouse, Comtois horses for two-and-a-half hours. These work each row three times, moving the earth to the has garnered a great deal of experience beautiful beasts are patient and obedient, having right to cover the base of these fragile young vines to in the west of France and the USA. In been trained over the years to live in happy compa- protect them from the frost. This is called earthing addition to managing our two teams of nionship with their owner. up. Then Eric does the same movement to the left. vine workers, he will also manage our The Domaine de la Vougeraie team ♦ Lastly, he uses a double plowshare along the middle, biodynamic treatments. came together in the cellars Eric reaches Le Charlemagne at the lieu-dit of to move the earth to either side and bury the grass. in December to discover the 2017 vintage La Croix. This is a long vineyard of 0.22 hectares, This way, the vines can draw from deep below the