A distinctly earthy and very ripe nose flashes notes of plum, dark currant, violet, mocha and discreet but not invisible wood. The rich, full-bodied and powerful big-bodied flavors terminate in mouth coating, youthfully austere and impressively long finish. This terrific if very backward effort is a classic Clos de Vougeot of power and restraint that will require ample cellar time.

Score: 95 Allen Meadow (AM), Bourghound (BH), January 2019

The 2017 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru has quite a strict, minerally bouquet of blackberry, raspberry and light pressed iris aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with gently gripping tannin, touches of orange peel and marmalade infusing the red berry fruit. The peppery finish perhaps does not quite possess the persistency of the Vosne Premier Crus at the moment.

Score: 92-94 Neal Martin (NM), Vinous Media (VM), January 2019

The 2016 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is showing well from bottle, unfurling in the glass with aromas of dark berries, rose petals, cassis and spices, subtly framed by new wood. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, broad and nicely concentrated, its chassis of velvety tannin largely cloaked in juicy fruit, concluding with a nicely delineated finish. It´s comparatively elegant in style. The 2016 is derived almost exclusively from Grivot´s holdings at the bottom of the vineyard as his higher-lying plots were ravished by frost.

The Grivot family picked comparatively late in 2017, opting to wait for rain in the hope of unblocking retarded maturation. The result is a silky, open-knit and accessible vintage for this important 15.5-hectare Vosne-Romanée domaine, a range of wines displaying suave structures and an appealing purity of fruit. The wines are nicely balanced and immensely charming, so they will offer broad drinking windows. Siblings Mathilde and Hubert are now at the helm, guided by father Etienne, in what appears to be one of the most felicitous generational transitions to be found in all of Burgundy. Winemaking will be familiar to readers, having evolved in the direction of gentler extraction and greater transparency since the 2008 vintage: destemmed grapes retained intact, classical cuvaisons of some three weeks´ duration with mostly pumping over, and élevage in oak barrels. An impromptu tasting, brought forward to avoid a planned racking, meant that there wasn´t time to taste an extensive selection of bottled 2016s, so I´ll be returning soon.

Score: 93 William Kelley (WK), The Wine Advocate (WA), February 2019