2016 Domaine Fabrice Vigot, Vosne-Romanée “La Colombiere” Red Burgundy, France.
Totally unknown to me until recently, the Vigot wines look to be under the radar jewel with very classic Burgundy character, as this earthy old school Vosne-Romanée shows in the glass with morning forest floor and truffle led aromatics and a complex medium bodied palate of black cherry, strawberry, mulberry and tart blueberry fruits, along with hints of leather, delicate dried roses, orange peel, tea spices, anise and subtle sandalwood. This is a wine that changes as it swirls and the reduction funk, plus a faint brett note, taking a back seat allowing a more pleasing and silky personality to take over, though it is much more poised and elegant with food. I was on the fence on this one, coming from a single Lieu-Dit in the famed village of Vosne-Romanée and its limestone and clay soils, but it grew on me and in the end there was a lot to admire in its authentic and unvarnished style. The winemaking here is pragmatic depending on the grapes and parcel, with de-stemmed or full-cluster, depending on the vintage. The Vigot’s ferment with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks, with temperature controls, getting a gentle extraction of color, fruit depth and tannin. Wines are then pressed off the skins aged in new 228L French oak barrels for around 12 months, then transferred to older tonneaux for an additional six months, before bottling all unfined and unfiltered.
From what I’ve learned, Fabrice and Christine Vigot founded their own Domaine back in 1990 and not long ago, Christine inherited the vines from her family’s Domaine Bernard Martin-Noblet, giving them some extra top notch parcels in prime terroirs in the Côte de Nuits. Notable too, is that they have moved towards all organic principles, and are experimenting with biodynamics. Fabrice and Christine Vigot are focusing on crafted small lot, handmade and soulful Burgundies from the famous communes of Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-St.- Georges. Interestingly, especially to enthusiasts of Burgundy, I understand that the famed Mugneret-Gibourg and Dr. Georges Mugneret hired Fabrice Vigot’s father to tend a number of his prized vineyards in a crop-sharing agreement, which included a Grand Cru plot in Echezeaux, as well as prime plots in Nuits-St-Georges and Vosne-Romanée. The Mugneret-Gibourg contract, which was first done in the 1960s was passed down to Fabrice, who with his wife, Christine, continued his father’s legacy, until 2016, and though it has now ended, they still farm some very coveted grapes from all estate owned vines. The Vigot’s, who only farm 100% Pinot Noir are going to be all organic certified with this vintage and I look forward to trying more of these wines in the future, especially the Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges, as well as their more affordable Bourgogne or Coteaux Bourguignons bottlings. I must thank Ryan Cooley, Sommelier at Carmel’s critically acclaimed Aubergine Restaurant for sharing his personal bottle and the introduction to this producer.
($90 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive