Bright cherry and raspberry fruit flavors hold court in this light-bodied red, which is firm and persistent, gathering accents of earth and tomato leaf as this delivers a long finish. Best from 2024 through 2038. 385 cases made, 24 cases imported.??–BS??Region: France / Burgundy / Beaune Select to Add

The 2014 Beaune La Montée Rouge comes from the estate's 1.6-hectare vineyard. It has an attractive bouquet with wild strawberry and raspberry scents, a touch of sous-bois. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, nicely structured and balanced with a touch of bell pepper on the slightly truncated finish. But overall, this is well made and perfect for early drinking.

The 2012 Beaune La Montee Rouge comes from the village part of the cru. It has a light strawberry nose that needs a little more delineation. The palate is medium-bodied and carries the 30% new oak better than one would have anticipated, lending the raspberry and strawberry finish the exhibits fine density. This is a capable Beaune village cru. 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