Joseph Drouhin Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru 2017

Joseph Drouhin Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru is a Pinot Noir from a Premier Cru site in one of the most celebrated communes of the Côte de Nuits. The Beaune house, founded in 1880, farms its 78 hectares organically and biodynamically across the region. Vosne-Romanée sits on limestone and marl slopes with stony, iron-tinged clay, a well-drained base that channels Pinot Noir into depth, perfume and a savoury, mineral length. The favourable mid-slope aspect and the diurnal swing between warm days and cool nights hold acidity and build aromatic complexity through the season. The 2017 was a generous, even vintage. Fermentation runs with native yeasts and the wine ages sixteen months in French oak, a share of it new, the slow oxygen exchange through the barrel rounding the tannins and adding measured clove and wood spice. The colour is a deep ruby. The nose layers dark cherry, red berries, plum and rose with damp earth and a turn of spice. The palate is medium-bodied and silky, the tannins fine-grained, the long finish carrying earthy minerality. Serve at 16 degrees and open thirty minutes ahead. Good with roast duck, beef fillet or pheasant.