Tasted in the Pommard cellar with Thibaud Clerget, 17 November 2020.
Domaine Clerget
12 Rue de la Combe
21190 Volnay
Tel: +33 3 80 21 61 56
www.domaine-clerget.com
More reports for Domaine Clerget
Thibaud on 2020:
“Certainly, an interesting vintage and I liked the cleanliness of the grapes – always good in your first year of certification! I started harvesting 22 August but it was hard to choose the day – too much alcohol or not quite ready – you could choose – the colour extracted very quickly and for the moment they look impressive. The dryness meant we lost a lot of vines on the 161-49 rootstock they didn’t support the dry and heat.”
Thibaud on 2019:
“I loved vinifying this vintage – since 2015 it’s my favourite though there’s lower volume. I had already left the potential for very few bunches on the vines but the poor flowering meant that the two, when combined, meant about half a harvest. But you will discover in the wines – much less pigeage, more an infusion than an extraction.”
The wines…
Singing aromatics and supple elegance – the hallmark of the domaine in 2019.
Whites were fined just 2 days ago, so Thibaud is not showing them. But the reds will be ready for bottling in another month..
2019 Bourgogne Rouge
50-year-old vines
Hmm – forward, wide and silky – very attractive. In the mouth, the silk on the nose is reflected in the texture. Wide, a suggestion of structure in the middle a slightly metallic flavour in the mix, today. But really a very sophisticated and very tasty wine, particularly for the label.
From 2 parcels – Petit Gamay plus Echats in the bottom of Champans. All destemmed and no new oak – like the Bourgogne – 1/3 a normal yield
A very fine, slightly deeper but very precise berry fruit – lovely. More width and more meltingly mineral – then in the middle more mouth-perfume, more flowers. A delicate and beautiful thing. Bravo!
2019 Volnay 1er Carelles sous la Chapelle
Here the first wine with a little new oak – 20%
The nose of the last with extra complexity and depth of red fruit – super, really super. Width again, here with extra minerality and great freshness. Like the nose, it’s about the extra depth and complexity of the fruit – delicious fruit. You simply can’t go wrong here – and you could easily drink it today, such is the balance.
2019 Volnay 1er Mitans
The first wine with some whole-clusters – 50%. Only two barrels, both 1-year-old.
A very pretty nose, a little deeper but also a little narrower. More structural – hmm – I like this. A faint suggestion of tannic astringency but micro-grained only. Intense, with fruit-stone style finishing. Love again!
Young vines. The largest losses here – 4 barrels instead of 18 – mainly due to loss of the vines. There’s some whole-cluster but less, and a little new oak again.
Beautiful – the aromatics are singing today. Fresh, strikingly beautiful despite the extra structure. Just so mouth-wateringly delicious. A great Santenots in the domaines airy, beautiful style in 2019…
2019 Volnay 1er Clos de Verseuil (Monopole)
Over the wall from Taillepieds and below the Clos d’Audignac – All destemmed and 20% new oak.
Deeply aromatic again though not fully open like the earlier wines – still the purity, the clarity of the others though. More structural again, here with a little more depth and presence to the flavour. Beautifully juicy fruit to finish again – excellent!!
15 hl/ha but mainly due to the 90-year-old vines. All destemmed – one new barrel from 3…
A vibrant nose – less ready than the previous wines but still with the same sense of clarity. Full, mouth-fillingly full. A little grain to the tannin, but the fruit itself is very silky. Persistent too – this still needs time but the material is great…
2 parcels also 80 and 25-year-old vines, the younger vines need more time before harvesting so are elevaged separately, blending at racking time, added 20% whole cluster here. ‘One is massive the other is finer – they are at best when assembled. I like to make my Rugiens more in a Volnay style’ – 20% whole cluster and the same for the amount of new oak.
A little extra grain to the aromatic complexity here, but you could indeed easily think Volnay if served blind. Extry density and width in the mouth though, extra finishing complexity too – and holding that finishing note with impressive power – here is more Pommard – but still with the finesse of the rest of Thibaud’s 2019s… Bravo.
There is some négoce in 2019, labelled Y Clerget. Normally négoce is only white but here’s a red. The domaine’s Meursault is being pulled out to replant so there won’t be much domaine white for a few years:
2019 Y Clerget, Corton-Rognets
Did the harvest including choosing the date. 40% wc, 20% new oak – the highest alcohol this year with 14°.
There’s a little more confiture style to the aroma – but with a width and a faint accent of flowers too. Large-scaled in the mouth but also super-silky. Much sophistication in terms of shape and texture.
2019 Clos de Vougeot Grand Maupertuis
50% wc and new oak – the wc all in the bottom of the tank and the destemmed grapes on top
A smaller, if still wide and fresh, nose – a suggestion of reduction in here too. Extra in the mouth – properly structured but nothing austere – the tannin has a subtle grain but practically no astringency. Just a faintly smoky impression in the finishing flavours that will be from the barrel. Amply accessible but properly shaped and long too. This will be excellent!
