The Wine Advocate | RP 92-94
Published: Jan 18, 2024

The 2022 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru offers up aromas of inky berries and cherries mingled with incense, smoke and toasty new oak. Medium to full-bodied, suave and refined, with powdery tannins and a mineral finish, it's an impressively elegant rendition of this sometimes chunky cru that was vinified with 50% whole cluster.

The 2022 vintage is another tour de force for Bouchard, as the accompanying tasting notes reflect. Technical director Frédéric Weber reported little in the way of hydric stress, with rapid ripening at the end of the season that saw some parcels accumulate 1.5% potential alcohol in as little as three days. Fortunately, the team hadn't performed any deleafing and were able to apply protective kaolin clay as sunblock for the leaves and fruit to ride out the heat wave. Harvest began on August 26, with anything picked after 11 a.m. left overnight in a cold room for processing the following day, and the harvesters stopping work at 2 p.m.

As I've written before, viticulture chez Bouchard is among the best of the big houses (I drive past their Beaune vineyards several hundred times every year). Organic conversion is underway, and canopies are now hedged to 1.30 meters, around 30 centimeters higher than the classic low rognage that still predominates along the Côte—forward-thinking innovations that will no doubt find imitators in short order among other big players. Vinifications in red increasingly incorporate whole bunches, and whites are barreled down before the end of alcoholic fermentation, with foudres now employed for the second winter of élevage for some cuvées.

Bouchard-pereetfils.com

TASTING NOTE: Complex bouquet of red and black berries with spicy and slightly oaky notes. Dazzling elegance on the palate, with a perfect blend of finesse and raciness. Very good ageing potential.
FOOD/WINE PAIRING: Red meat dishes, roasted or in sauce, game birds, medium-flavoured cheese.
SERVING TEMPERATURE: Between 17C to 18C
AGEING POTENTIAL: 10 years and more

HARVEST: manual, in small cases of 13 kg. Careful manual sorting of each grape.
VINIFICATION: Following total or partial destemming on the vintage, fermentation in small containers, gentle pressing ensure optimal vinification. Depending on the profile of the vintage, vatting lasts 18 to 21 days.
MATURING: 12 to 14 months in French oak, with 45 to 60% new oak.
AGEING: The cellars located in the Bastions of the ancient Ch?teau de Beaune offer ideal ambient conditions. Thanks to their natural hygrometry and constant temperatures, the Grands Crus enjoy from their first youth an environment that is perfectly adapted to tranquil ageing.

GRAPE VARIETY: Pinot Noir
EXPOSITION: East
SOIL OF THE APPELATION: Limestone and clay with gravel
TOTAL SURFACE OF THE APPELATION IN PRODUCTION:50.04 hectares
DOMAIN SURFACE IN PRODUCTION: 0.45 hectares