2013 Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat Vosne-Romanée

Bright, dark red. Sexy floral and mineral high tones lift aromas of raspberry and milk chocolate on the perfumed nose. A step up in breadth and structure over the village Chambolle, showing a minty nuance to the red fruit flavors. Finishes with a firm tannic spine. The wines' acidity reinforces their structure in 2013, notes Charles van Canneyt, adding that pHs are lower than in 2012 while admitting that he hasn't yet done an analysis.

The 2013 Vosne-Romanée Village has a delicate red cherry, bergamot and strawberry-scented bouquet that gently unfolds but never gets carried away. The palate is well balanced with confit-like red berry fruit, strawberry jam and boysenberry, revealing satisfying weight on the finish. This has very good potential for a Village Cru and comes strongly recommended for those who cannot afford the Grand Crus.

The 2013 Vosne-Romanée Village has a delicate red cherry, bergamot and strawberry-scented bouquet that gently unfolds but never gets carried away. The palate is well balanced with confit-like red berry fruit, strawberry jam and boysenberry, revealing satisfying weight on the finish. This has very good potential for a Village Cru and comes strongly recommended for those who cannot afford the Grand Crus. ||Word on the street (and I don’t know exactly what street, but one where wine-lovers gossip) is that Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat is “kicking arse” these days. I believe that’s a technical term for fashioning wines with elegance, poise and that abstract term: “pinoté." Charles van Canneyt, “a bit of a dish” according to several friends of the fairer sex, has steered this domaine in a positive direction. Once their wines were “respectable." Now, recent vintages have warranted a small but perfectly formed flotilla of superlatives. Charles told me that he started the harvest on October 5 and used 20% new oak for the village crus and 30% to 50% for the premier crus. Like many winemakers, he blended the stems into the vat, between 20 to 25%. The malolactics here were late…very late. In fact one or two of the cuvées still had not completed their malo by the time of my visit at the end of November (I suspect that is partly because their capacious cellar always feels a little colder than others.) “Personally I prefer 2013 [to 2012] because you can easily tell the terroir. It has good potential for cellaring because there is good quality of tannin and because of the acidity, which is more present in the 2013. That gives more energy in the wines,” he remarked. I have to say, this represented a very consistent and occasionally inspiring set of 2013s that climaxed with a show-stopping Romanée-Saint-Vivant, so luxurious and pure that I suggested to Charles that he serve the sultrier Richebourg before it. It evoked memories of a divine 1980 that I had popped just the week earlier. This domaine’s 2013s come strongly recommended and here I agree with Charles that they may well surpass the 2012s – a remarkable feat given the growing season. Do not overlook gems such as the three Vosne Premier Crus (Malconsorts, les Beaumonts and les Suchots) while their Vosne-Romanée Village ’13 is one of the best that I tasted during my five weeks of tasting. eRobertParker.com.December, 2014