The vine

• Plot /climat

  Clos des Mouches (total surface area: 25ha 18a).

• History

  This mid-slope climat is exposed to the sun throughout the day. In the past, it was more populated with flowers and bushes than vines. Bees particularly loved this area. In medieval French, "mouches" actually referred to bees ("abeilles" in French). Should this wine be called "Clos des Abeilles"? Maurice Drouhin, in the post-war period, created a vast vineyard on the Clos des Mouches for his eponymous wine house and played a major role in the fame of this climat.

• Soil

  The soil pit we dug during the replanting in 2023 revealed that there was once an old quarry here. The stones from this quarry were used to build Beaune. The clay-limestone soil remains very stony.

• Our plot(s)

  Surface area: 58 ares. Located between 250 and 300 meters. South / south-east exposure, at the foot of the Montagne de Saint Désiré, on the edge of the Pommard Premier Cru vineyards. The slope ranges from 5% to 15%.

• Age of vines

  • Planting date Surface
  • 1958 28.30a
  • 1968 15.03a
  • 1986 30.05a

The wine

• Description

  100% Pinot Noir from handpicked grapes; raised in oak casks.

• Taste

  Among the three Beaune Premier Crus produced by the estate, Clos des Mouches is the most profound. Ripe red fruits, black fruits, and liquorice blend with subtle toasted notes. The mouth shows character from the attack through to the finish, with powerful tannins and a dense aromatic profile. This wine has excellent aging potential, developing notes of dried fruits and leather over time.

• Serving temperature

  15/16°C. It is recommended to decant recent vintages so as to enhance the aroma.

The vintage

• 2023 - An year of plenitude. The 2023 spring weather was unsettled, with many storms that fortunately did not have damage on the vineyards. Thanks to a high rainfall in August, grapes were numerous and juicy. We feared that achieving perfect maturity would be a challenge because of the high volume of grapes, but the fruits finished ripening and the aromas concentrated extremely fast thanks to an unexpected heatwave that hit us at the beginning of September. It is also around that time that harvest started (on the 5th of September). Yeast did transform sugar into alcohol at a relatively slow pace, alcoholic fermentation finished in December. While tasting, we get a dominance of fruit driven aromas and a gourmet, elegant vintage. We note that 2023 is more refined than 2020 vintage for both reds and whites. What a blessed vintage!