Domaine Bruno Clavelier, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru, Aux Brulees 2021 - 75cl
Aux Brûlées is one of Vosne-Romanée's most storied premiers crus, sitting high on the slope beside Richebourg, and in Bruno Clavelier's hands it is often the most subtle wine in the cellar. This is the Vieilles Vignes bottling from vines over 65 years old, in the tricky but classical 2021 vintage — a cool, low-yielding year that rewarded the growers who kept their nerve, and Clavelier's fruit came through with real precision.
Clavelier farms biodynamically across the Côte de Nuits, with an unusually old vine average and a geologist's eye for terroir. Aux Brûlées sits on Prémeaux limestone laced with chailles — the source of the gunflint and graphite that runs through the wine — with surface pebbles that warm the site and push ripeness even in a cool year.
This is Pinot Noir at its most filigree: rose and peony on the nose, then graphite, smoke and a saline mineral thread beneath red cherry and wild berry. The palate is all finesse — silken tannins, bright acidity, a sense of lift and radiance rather than weight — carrying to a long, mineral, quietly insistent finish. It has the frame to age gracefully for a decade and more.
A wine for a significant bottle on a significant night, and one that rewards patience — either years in the cellar or simply a slow evening with the glass.
How to Serve
Serve at 15-16°C in fine Burgundy stems. Young and tightly wound, it benefits from a gentle decant or an hour open; an older bottle should be handled carefully and decanted only at the last moment.
Where to Drink It
Noble Rot for a serious Burgundy list and no fuss. The River Cafe for a special lunch. J Sheekey if the evening runs to fish done properly.
Food Pairings
Roast partridge or squab, cooked pink. Failing game, a truffled risotto lets the wine's perfume do the talking.
