adieu clos frantin…

30.1.2011billn

Well to be specific the Clos Frantin, not Domaine du Clos Frantin.

I was chatting with a sommelier/importer from New York who was to visit Domaine d’Eugenie, and he mentioned that they were changing the name of the Clos Frantin to Clos Eugenie. I was a bit sceptical because you don’t easily change vineyard names and I also didn’t think that the parent company of Domaine du Clos Frantin (A.Bichot) would want to sell the vines. Anyway I asked a contact at Bichot…

It seems that when they bought the buildings to make their new winery, Latour/Eugenie did indeed acquire the Vosne-Romanée Clos Frantin vines too, however, swapping with Bichot the Frantin vines for some of the old Engel domaine vines in Vosne-Romanée Hautes Mazières – so both domaine’s villages Vosnes have a different recipe today.

Whilst Domaine du Clos Frantin’s Vosne had not been a monopole for many a year, given that it was blended with grapes from Vosne Damaudes in the Bichot era, I’m a little sad that this is now only a historical note; the only connection to the Clos Frantin domaine is the plaque to General Frantin on the external wall of Eugenie ‘compound’, Clos Frantin elevage long-since having moved to Nuits St.Georges.

Ah well, that’s progress – maybe there will be Clos d’Eugenie Monopole! I note that a building in the south-west corner of the Eugenie compound (Les Chaumes to the south and La Tâche to the west) is being converted into a ‘dwelling’, the planning signs outside bearing Mr Engerer’s name…

Agree? Disagree? Anything you'd like to add?

There are 3 responses to “adieu clos frantin…”

  1. Tom Blach30th January 2011 at 10:15 pmPermalinkReply

    What a beautiful bottle. I was hoping for a note having heard such great things of old Grivelets.

    • billn31st January 2011 at 7:47 amPermalinkReply

      That would have been nice Tom! Unfortunately, it’s ‘just’ a photo that somebody once sent with a few a questions about the wine.

  2. Morten6th November 2011 at 6:41 pmPermalinkReply

    I have come across a quite a few old Grivelet Wines, Although I never met Monsieur Grivelet I have heard many great stories about the man. He certainly knew his wines, but he also liked to “adulterate” some of his wines, He blended his 1973 and 1976 Village Chambolle and the clients could chose wich vintage they prefered on the label: He exported a Bourgogne Rouge, named after his wifa, a lebanese Princesse to the US, it was almost 100 % Cotes du Rhone / Chateaunef as he thought the US wanted strong dark Pinots. The last bottle I tasted was a very fine Les Amoureuses 1966…

  3. Alan Bale5th January 2012 at 7:48 pmPermalinkReply

    I had a case of a Grivelet wine (I forget what) around 1970, it was horrible and I have avoided his wines ever since.

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