Closing Remarks on Opening the Clos

by Edouard Bourgeois
October 13, 2021

For those of you who were not able to join us at Benoit for this great wine dinner, here are some notes I wanted to share about the whole experience.

I thought the lineup was pretty impressive with, as always, a few bottles that stood out. Here are a few of my "favorites".

The wine dinner, as French as snails in garlic, (although we didn't get to enjoy this delicacy) started with a flight of the unique Champagne Philipponnat's Prestige Cuvée Clos des Goisses. It didn't come as a surprise that the 1996 affirmed its alluring personality and illustrated the powerful nature of the vintage eloquently and probably won wine of the flight (or wine of the night?). However, the other vintages certainly showed a promising future.

I loved the flight of 2017 red Burgundies that followed. I truly am a fan of the vintage and if typically in that wine region, I tend to think a vintage is more favorable to either the Chardonnay or the Pinot Noirs, I think 2017 touched both colors with grace. Although last night's 2017's were only red, I do encourage you to try some of the whites from the Cote de Beaune, they are very fine in my opinion. The winner on that flight? My vote goes to the Drouhin Clos Vougeot 2017. Once again, the respected négociant house confirmed its ability to offer elegance and delicate fruit even from a vineyard like Clos Vougeot, known for its robustness.

We then moved on to the "warm vintages flight" to accompany the mouth-watering, ultra classic "poulet-frites" as I like to call it. 2018 and 2015 certainly produced deep coloured Pinot Noir with broad shoulders. I thought that the Aloxe-Corton from Morey-Blanc was a hit. Ranked Premier Cru in the ocean of Grand Cru that surrounds it makes this plot "Clos du Chapitre" easy to overlook. However, I thought it was in a great spot, balanced and plump, without overwhelming heat.

We wrapped up with three opulent wines with the cheese course. Back to another Clos Vougeot, I was impressed with the volume and complexity of Hudelot-Noellat's 2015. We often talk about the location of one's vineyards within the vast Clos Vougeot appellation. Charles Van Canneyt of Hudelot-Noellat is lucky to own a parcel further up the hill, in arguably the best corner. As they say: "location, location, location"...