Domaine de la Vougeraie, based in Premeaux just south of Nuits St Georges, was created in 1999 when Jean-Claude Boisset of the Boisset group decided to group together all the vineyard holdings of his various negociant companies acquired over the years. The name comes from the significant holdings – and indeed Jean-Claude Boisset’s home – in the village of Vougeot. The winery is located however in the old Claudine Deschamps (Madame Jean-Claude Boisset) cellars in Prémeaux. The Domaine was put together from the various vineyard holdings which had accrued through the Boisset acquisitions of Burgundian houses over the years. Pascal Marchand was put in charge in 1999, with Bernard Zito in the vineyards, which were farmed biodynamically. Pascal produced powerful wines, fairly heavily extracted in his early vintages but clearly was subsequently moving to a softer approach by 2004.
With nearly 40 hectares of vineyard and over 30 different appellations, including six grand crus (Musigny, Bonnes Mares, Clos Vougeot, Charmes Chambertin, Mazoyères, Corton Clos du Roi, and Corton Charlemagne), this is one of Burgundy’s leading Domaines. Le Clos du Roi is a highly-regarded climat of the Corton Grand Cru appellation in the Cote de Beaune district of Burgundy. This walled site - roughly translated as its name means "the walled vineyard of the king" - is located high on the eastern slopes of the Montagne de Corton hill. Wines from the Clos du Roi are almost exclusively from Pinot Noir and a number of top Burgundy producers have plots here.
Produced from a half-hectare of vines planted in the 1950s on the steep slopes of Clos du Roi. Fermented with a significant inclusion of whole clusters and regular, gentle punching down to produce a wine with lovely, expressive red and black fruit on the nose, and a firm texture on the palate that lacks any rough edges due to the gentle use of the vertical press.
This too is firmly reduced though subtle floral nuances can be discerned. There is terrific intensity to the bigger-bodied and more muscular flavours that also possess very good minerality and precision, all wrapped in a lingering and youthfully austere finish that flashes focused power. This is not particularly dense but like several wines in the range, there is very good flavour authority and given how structured this is, I would suspect that more body and richness will develop with time in bottle.