Tasted in Vosne-Romanée with Anne Gros, 12th May 2015.
Domaine Anne Gros
11 Rue des Communes
21700 Vosne-Romanée
Tel: +33 3 80 61 07 95+33 3 80 61 07 95
www.anne-gros.com
The first thing that I notice as I enter the courtyard on Anne Gros’s Vosne-Romanée domaine, is the lovely ‘Colombière’ dove-cotes in garden of the house – the name that Anne took for her gites. I’m a little early, but 2-3 minutes later Anne arrives direct from her vines; don’t ever get too dreamy about the life of a wine-maker, it’s clear when you see Anne limping in from her vineyard that it’s hard work, not romance!
Anne is the daughter of François Gros. In the 1980’s a majority of Domaine François Gros’s wine was sold in bulk – François wasn’t in great shape and neither was the domaine. Anne took over the domaine in 1988, and until 1994 labelled the wines under both her and her father’s name – Domaine Anne and Francoise Gros – thereafter the wines were labelled as Domaine Anne Gros. The domaine is rather modestly sized compared to some of the extended Gros family in Vosne (& Beaune!) but includes, today, three grand crus; Echézeaux, Clos de Vougeot and Richebourg. The domaine is 6.5 hectares but 4 major parcels have a Bourgogne label.
In the cuverie there are lines of gleaming stainless-steel tanks – these are mainly used for starting the white fermentations and for assembling and decanting the reds off their sediment – mainly it is cement tanks for fermenting the reds from fully destemmed grapes. Head into the cellar and Anne has a great selection of fossils – I assume from the vineyards – Anne says ‘Yes those are from Concoeur, but then with a smile says “But the big ones are from Morocco!” Underground we have a separation of white and red wine cellars – the whites is a cellar of 500 litre demi-muids. The cellars hold a mix of François Frères and Damy barrels – whilst not optically obvious, Anne says that there’s a majority of Damy.
The wines…
The dove-cotes…
The 2013s had only recently been bottled, so we look at the 2014s. We tasted everything from 1 year-old barrels, though 60-70% new oak is common here. I was particularly interested in Anne’s comment that she does more severe pruning in her Echezeaux, since 2010, because before that I found her wine fabulously complex – indeed really something – but more with the weight of a 1er Cru wine. You can easily see the change with this 2014.
I found the wines rather young so chose not to highlight specific ones, but I’m sure you see lots of interest from my notes. This is always a top address…
Anne on her 2014s:
“2014 is good, it’s also a surprise. They have the sugar and acidity, and the tannin, but not too hard tannin. Like other vintages, I never have deep colours.”
2014 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Blanc
17 year-old vines in Concoeur; 1 hectare planted, with elevage in 500 litre barrels. The wines have finished their malos but have not yet been racked – here will be 14 months of elevage.
Weight, and just a hint of yeastiness also for now, but behind is bright, fresh but warm fruit. This is big- flavoured, concentrated and with excellent energy. Good mineral length finishing with quite some fragrance in the mouth.
2014 Bourgogne Chardonnay
2 barrels of Bourgogne from vines of Vosne (Flagey). Because the cuvée is so small it’s not exported, rather it is mainly sold to restaurants and cavistes.
Fresh, but tight aromas, hint more gas, but seemingly mineral and intense – fine penetration flavour – rather yum…! 18 year-old vines. Less fruity despite hardly any limestone…
2014 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Rouge
Same parcel as the hautes côtes blanc.
Piercing dark-red fruit – super – yet there’s strawberry and some florals in the mix too. Fresh, transparent and with a core of sweetness. Delicate and packed with flavour. Super.
2014 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
A bourgogne from young vines in Nuits – these are bought-in grapes, so a different colour label is used to differentiate from the domaine label.
Faint malo aromas but some freshness also. More direct and intense, more architecture here. Long and floral finishing.
2014 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Domaine – from older vines – over 40 years-old – the product of 10 different parcels.
Much fainter malolactic aromas, deeper, tighter, darker fruit. Faint CO2, a deeper register of fruit flavour, also a direct and transparent wine. A floral perfume in the finish too. Lots of potential here…
2014 Chambolle-Musigny La Combe d’Orveau
Back to domaine wines again. A marne blanche soil ‘usually colder than other vines, so later harvesting.’
Here the nose is a little more open and a little less muscular. Gas again, but here is a lithe and fine width of flavour – discreetly complex and wide. Beautiful detail, super. Lovely …
2014 Gevrey-Chambertin Croix de Champs
Another cuvée made from bought-in grapes.
Deeply fragrant – really inviting. Big, concentrated but with energy and a certain flexing of muscle – no sharp edges – super! An intense and interesting villages of character…
2014 Nuits St.Georges Les Damodes
Bought-in villages level Damodes.
Faint malolactic aromas here, overall a mix of high tones and depth, though limited width today… Gas, again, but again a super fragrant mid-palate with freshness – not so obviously Nuits I think. This looks like it will be lovely.
2014 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Les Lavières
Another wine made from bought-in grapes.
A more floral aspect, yet tight below, giving only a faint malo note. The most gas so far, a little more structure that builds too. Intense, and real extra weight of flavour. Architecturally very different to the Gevrey, and whilst less gourmand today, I find a super shape.
2014 Vosne-Romanée Les Barreaux
Anne notes that these are very old vines and normally brings the best acidity of the cellar.
Starts modestly but builds a super perfumed fruit, yet never with great attack. Mouth-filling, complex, fresh, sweet fruit – a wine to revel in, already delicious. Excellent wine.
2014 Echézeaux Les Loacheuses
“An early ripening wine so it’s important not to pick late. We make a more severe work in the vines since 2010, which brings more energy.”
Primary but beautifully modest, sweet fruit. There is definitely more weight than pre-2010 vintages that I’ve tried, a little oak tannin too. This will be excellent.
2014 Clos de Vougeot
Old vines in the area Grand Maupertuis.
Perfumed fruit top notes. Some gas on the palate and a slowly surfacing tannin. The dimension of flavour is now widening. Really lots of flavour complexity with just a hint of barrel texture. Super.
2014 Richebourg
Also old vines, just a little younger than those in the Clos de Vougeot.
Faintly floral, larger-scaled, with good sweetness. A flavour circled with a faint salinity, modestly excellent at this embryonic stage..
There is one response to “Domaine Anne Gros – Vosne-Romanée”
Last evening I drank five of Anne’s 2013 wines in the company of the lady, herself. The Echezeaux and Clos Vougeot wines show excellent clarity of fruit, real depth, graceful power and suave tannin.
That was my first experience with her wines and I was pleasantly surprised by the complete integration of the oak at this early stage.
The Gros Tallot wines from Minervois were tasted later and are top shelf, too.
Good infos – yes, from my very first visit the wines were much more sauve than chatter about oak would have led me to believe…