2016 Clos Vougeot Maupertui

(some of the vines here are up to 100 years of age, vs. 27 for the Echézeaux): Good dark red. More brooding and less relaxed on the nose than the Echézeaux, offering scents of dark raspberry, violet, spices and menthol, plus an ineffable high note of blood orange. A step up from the preceding wines in texture, depth and elegance, with its tactile dark fruit flavors conveying a creamy quality as well as lovely energy. Finishes with substantial dusty, fine-grained tannins and superb rising floral length. Still a bit bound up (Anne Gros noted that this wine typically closes down within the year after bottling) but already wonderfully precise and suave. Gros owns nearly a full hectare in the top part of the Clos, just under Grands-Echézeaux.

0.93-ha plot of 80-year-old vines in the Grand Maupertuis sector, in the upper part of the Clos and towards the south. Seven casks instead of the 15 in 2015. And some years they get 18 or 19! Tank sample. Deep garnet. Savoury nose and very rich and concentrated. Relatively tough tannins. Briary and set for the long term. Very small grapes, as in Les Barreaux in Vosne, and one can taste the slightly dry tannins. (JR)