2020 Clos Vougeot

A lively, powerful purple. Quite heady with ripe but pure red berry fruit up front, becoming more reticent later. The acidity is actually rather aggressive and helps to dry out the finish. Possibly very early picked, but the balance is not quite right.

The 2020 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru does not fully have the verve and focus of its peers. It is tertiary and more stemmy in style, yet still appealing. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid red fruit, a little chewy and more rustic than its peers, tapering slightly towards the bitter cherry finish. It is not bad, though not the best in show. Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting.

Rich and gamey nose, of the kind that gets real Burgundy freaks very excited. Iron, smoke and earth in its soul. With aeration it develops wonderful, super-ripe sour-cherry fruit. Then comes the massive structure of the expansive yet fresh finish, the wine moving over your palate like a great ocean liner plowing through the waves of the North Atlantic. Here's one with decades of aging potential. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2030.