Wine Advisor
Alain Hudelot Noellat, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2019
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
There are just eight barrels instead of the usual 13 barrels of the 2019 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru this year. Matured in around 50% new oak, it has a hard job following the superlative Malconsorts, but does its best with blackberry, wild hedgerow and light iodine aromas. The palate is succulent on the entry, and quite effervescent, with a fine bead of acidity, but maybe this is just a little too exotic toward the finish. It needs to show more refinement once in bottle.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2019 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is also very promising, mingling aromas of cherries, earthy wild berries, rose petals and spices in an incipiently complex mélange. Full-bodied, rich and layered, it's elegantly muscular and built for the long haul, its enveloping core of fruit largely concealing serious reserves of fine, powdery tannins.
About the Producer
In 1962, Alain inherited two small parcels of his father's Chambolle-Musigny Grand Cru Les Chames, plus several vineyards from his marriage to the great-granddaughter of Charles Noellat, a Vosne-Romanee winery family, and he established Domaine Alain Hudelot Noellat. The winery is now about 10 hectares (24 hectares) in size. The estate now has about 10 hectares (24 acres) of vineyards with an average age of over 50 years, including several dating back to 1920, including the vineyard at Romanée-Saint-Vivant. The winery is known for its lighter wines with nuanced and natural flavors. Now managed by third-generation grandson Charles van Canneyts, Hudelot-Nollat is not so different from its grandfather's time, when it was less visible in the thicker wines, but now it has the advantage of refinement, often with fresh, bright fruit, balanced acidity and silky tannins. The vinification is entirely de-stemmed, using local yeasts that are not comparable to artificial yeasts, with a relatively long pre-fermentation cold soak, mainly with trampled skins, and 18 months in new barrels at 20-60%. In 2012, Charles also started to buy grapes from other winegrowers under his own name to make his wine. Vosne-Romanee is a blend of three first growths, Suchots, Beaumonts and Malconsorts, and as young as it is, the Hudelot-Noellat family owns three first growths that are over 100 years old, so this VR is ostensibly a village wine, but with a first growth heritage. Jasper Morris MW has high praise for Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat. He believes that while Alain Hudelot's management has produced fine style reds, Charles van Canneyt has taken over and given the wines more concentration and backbone, retaining their elegance, but with more ageing potential and balance.
