Domaine Bruno Clavelier, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru, Aux Brulees 2022 - 75cl
Aux Brûlées sits high on the Vosne-Romanée slope, brushing up against Richebourg and Échezeaux — the name points to a sun-trap, a parcel that ripens early and carries real warmth. Bruno Clavelier farms it biodynamically, from vines planted in the 1950s, and the fruit here is picked ripe and handled gently. Very little is done to it once it reaches the cellar. That restraint is the whole point.
The 2022 vintage gave Burgundy ripeness without heaviness, and this wine shows it. Expect dark cherry and kirsch up front, then something more exotic underneath — rose petal, five-spice, a ferrous, bloody note that Vosne does better than anywhere. Fine-grained tannin and a line of cool acidity hold it all in place. It's generous now but coiled, the kind of Pinot Noir that will reward a decade in the cellar and repay every year of it.
This is a bottle for a proper occasion — a birthday worth marking, a dinner where the wine is meant to be talked about.
How to Serve
Serve at 15–16°C in a large Burgundy bowl. Young as it is, give it an hour in a decanter or open it well ahead; the perfume builds as it warms in the glass.
Where to Drink It
Noble Rot (Lamb's Conduit Street) for a Burgundy-literate list and cooking to match. Scott's in Mayfair for something more classic. Or The River Cafe, where a great Pinot earns its place.
Food Pairings
Roast duck or guinea fowl is the natural call — enough richness to meet the fruit, not so much that it flattens the wine's finesse. Mushrooms in any form flatter that savoury, forest-floor side beautifully.
