The 2017 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches is lovely, wafting from the glass with a generous bouquet of ripe berries, plums, baking chocolate, spices, orange rind and flowers, subtly framed by a touch of new oak. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, ample and succulent, with satiny tannins, a generous core of fruit and a long, expansive finish. This will be hard to resist in its youth.

The 2016 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches has an opulent bouquet with scents of cranberry, kirsch, cola and minerals while retaining fine freshness, partly thanks to the 10% whole cluster addition. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin in the mouth. This is muscular like the Les Reversès, but there is far more elegance and finesse here and impressive tension on the finish. Excellent.

The 2015 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches consists of three barrels this year, compared to just one in previous years due to hail. It is 100% de-stemmed. It has an attractive bouquet with macerated red cherries with crushed strawberry and kirsch aromas. The palate is well balanced with crisp acidity and impressive depth. There is a subtle, almost biscuit-like tincture towards the finish with a slightly savory finish.

The 2013 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches was reduced to just one barrel this year. It has a fine, mineral-rich bouquet with pure and clean dark cherry and cassis fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannins, fine acidity and a tensile finish that does this victimized vineyard proud. If you can find a bottle, then this will drink nicely over the next decade.

The 2012 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches was completely de-stemmed as the soils are more ferrous than say, Clos du Roy. It has a very elegant, restrained, defined bouquet with pretty red currant and fresh raspberry scents. The palate is rounded and generous on the entry with supple tannins that exert a firm grip in the mouth. This is a slightly more masculine take on Beaune in 2012, but it is well-balanced and contains the density to suggest long-term aging. I have been tasting the wines of Nicolas Rossignol for several years now, but this was the first time that I had visited him at the winery in Beaune that he shares with Benjamin Leroux. “I didn’t have enough space in Volnay where I was working with my father,” he explained. “My first vinification here was in 2011.” He now farms around 15 hectares of vine that have been handed down from his family. “My father is from Volnay and my mother Pernand,” he continued. “In 2002, when my grandfather was 89 years old, he said that he was going to sell the grapes to a negoce. I said ‘O.K. Then I will be your negoce’. Then in 2008, one of my uncles who also sold grapes to negoce said exactly the same thing. Most of his vineyards were next to my father’s and so I made the same deal with him, on the condition that I worked the vineyards like he had been doing. That was fine because I like to spend time in the vineyards. So now my grandparents’ and uncle’s vines go into the domaine’s wine. And now in this winery, I can do what I want, whereas before I did what I can.” In 2012, like so many producers, his vines were affected by the growing conditions and especially the hail, therefore he has had to blend some premier crus together because the quantities were simply too miniscule to bottle separately. “I lost a lot of grapes in Volnay, Pommard and Beaune,” he rued. One topic of conversation that kept arising was Nicolas’s approach to whole cluster ferments and to this end, I have detailed the percentages with respect to each barrel sample. “I like whole clusters,” he enthused. “It gives energy to wine. But it is not appropriate for all terroirs. For example I do not use whole clusters for ferrous soils because the energy comes from the terroir already.” Nicolas prefers punching down the fruit rather than pumping over and presses once the tannins are fully ripe, which he assesses on taste rather than analyzing the must. He opined that his 2012s will probably require an extended period in bottle, possibly up until August or September for some wines. Like many growers I spoke to, he eschews new oak and raises all the wines in 30% one-year-old barrels, 30% two-year-old and the remainder in older wood. These were generally excellent wines: taut, bursting with red fruit, very distinctive and respectful of their terroirs and brimming over with personality. The judicious application of oak allowed the vagaries of the fruit to be expressed, while lending the wines just enough body to give them structure and intensity. While most will be approachable in their youth, I believe that the premier crus will have a propensity to age in not dissimilar fashion to his 2010s. Importer: Becky Wasserman Selection (Le Serbet) and through various US importers (see www.leserbet.com for full list.)