The 2015 Beaune 1Er Cru Clos du Roi is initially somewhat reductive, unwinding with aeration to offer up attractive notions of red berries, orange rind, spice, rich soil and French roast. On the palate, the wine is supple, open-knit and satiny, with a juicy core of sapid fruit and a saline, stem-influenced finish. An attractive Clos du Roi, but the overt reduction depresses my score a touch.

The 2014 Beaune 1Er Cru Clos du Roi, reduced from five to two barrels this year, has a well defined, rose petal infused nose with crushed strawberry and Morello cherry scents. The palate is medium-bodied with light tannins, a keen line of acidity, not a powerful or structured Clos du Roi, but "queenly" with a crisp, nicely poised, elegant finish. This deserves a light round of applause considering how this vineyard was impacted by hail.

The 2012 Beaune 1er Cru Clos du Roi comes from 2 parcels that belonged to Ponnelle and Vioilland, some vines planted as far back as 1901. The 2012 was raised in one new barrel out of a total of three. It has an agreeable, jammy bouquet with raspberry and crushed strawberry scents, though it needs more delineation. The palate is nicely balanced with red cherry, kirsch and chocolate notes. Smooth in the mouth and unashamedly quite modern in style, this will serve as decent early drinking. Domaine de la Vougeraie was founded in 1998 when the domaines of Claudine Deschamps, Pierre Ponnelle, Louis Voilland and L’Heritier-Guyot were merged. I remember it well because at the time I was exporting L’Heritier-Guyot’s wines to Japan (to be frank, they were quite ordinary back then.) The man behind the venture was Jean-Claude Boisset, whose own considerable holdings meant that Domaine de la Vougeraie became a significant player in the Cote d’Or, with 37 hectares of prime vineyard including seven grand crus to their name. I have to be honest and say that like many others, I liked the first few vintages of their wine, but found them a little predictable and seemed to struggle for charm and personality. Perhaps that was a reflection of former winemaker Pascal Marchand applying the practices he had learned at Comte Armand: a lot of new oak with 100% de-stemmed fruit – not really my bag. When he departed for pastures new, incoming winemaker Pierre Vincent seemed to apply a gentler touch. The new oak is still part of the wines’ character, but there is certainly a more considered approach, plus he is more open to using whole cluster fruit. Managing such an array of wines with a relatively small team cannot be easy in challenging vintages such as 2012, or for that matter 2013. Pierre told me that his average yields were 22 hectoliters per hectare, though for the grand crus, they were down to 17 hectoliters per hectare. Importer: Boisset Family Estates, St. Helena, CA; tel. (800) 878-1123

The 2010 Beaune Clos du Roi is gorgeous for its soft, round fruit and accessible personality. Sweet red cherries, crushed flowers and tobacco wrap around the delicate, somewhat fleeting finish. This is an excellent choice for drinking over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018. This is stunning set of wines from Pierre Vincent and Domaine de la Vougeraie. It is impossible to miss the attention to detail at this impeccably run domaine. No expense is spared. It takes 80 people to work the vineyards during harvest and another 20 in the cellar to take it from there. Production in 2010 was of course down significantly as it was everywhere else. Yields came in at 24 hectoliters per hectare for the Pinot and 29 for the Chardonnay. Vincent used between 30-80% whole bunches, depending on the wine. Readers who want to learn more might want to check out my video interview with Pierre Vincent on www.erobertparker.com. I will report on the domaine’s 2009s in the April issue. For now let me just say the 2009 Musigny is one of the wines of the vintage. Importer: Boisset Family Estates, St. Helena, CA; tel. (800) 878-1123 1

The 2009 Beaune Clos du Roi emerges from the glass with plenty of dark, jammy fruit. The wine turns a bit ethereal on the finish. This sample, from bottle, was heavily reduced at the outset, but then gradually came together in the glass. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019. Biodynamic farming and non-interventionalist winemaking are at the heart of the approach at Domaine de la Vougeraie. The 2009s saw roughly a 25 days of maceration (including a week of cold soak) with one punch down a day. Once in barrel racking was kept to a bare minimum. A number of wines were bottled in late 2010 and early 2011. I tasted these wines with winemaker Pierre Vincent in March 2011.Importer: Boisset Family Estates, St. Helena, CA; tel. (800) 878-1123