2020 Vosne Romanee Beaumonts

One of the more extreme wines in the range (checking in at 15.2% alcohol) is the 2020 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts, a full-bodied, rich and assertively chewy wine evocative of baked plums, fruit compote, blackberry jam and spices. While this is often one of Rouget's finest cuvées, I'm skeptical about this year's rendition.

Matured in 100% new oak, the 2020 Vosne-Romanée Les Beaumonts 1er Cru, was showing precocious cassis, prune-like aromas on the nose that dragged me away from the Côte d’Or and likewise, the palate has a Port-like quality that feels as if the growing season wrested this Les Beaumonts away from Burgundy into more Mediterranean climes. At 15.2° alcohol, there is a touch of warmth on the finish. Difficult to see where this will go.