Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, Philippe Pacalet 2024

Clos de Vougeot is Burgundy's great democratic paradox: a single 50-hectare Grand Cru walled by Cistercian monks in the 12th century, now carved between roughly 80 different owners. What you get depends entirely on who made it. Philippe Pacalet's version is about as far from the overripe, oak-heavy interpretations that gave this cru a complicated reputation as it's possible to get. Philippe has spent his career making wines of crystalline precision from purchased fruit, using minimal sulphur and indigenous yeasts. The result here is a Clos de Vougeot that feels more like a Chambolle than a Vosne — all nervous energy and lifted red fruit rather than brooding weight. "1.5 barrels – parcel near Vosne-Romanée. Deep purple and black fruit. Spicy, rich and intense with dense, slightly sweet dark fruit and impressive length." Nathan Hill, Chairman Philippe was clear that while yields were historically low, the payoff is in the glass. Aromatic clarity, saline finishes and finely judged tannins run through the range, and the wines show real charm already alongside the structure to age. A year where selection mattered enormously, and in Pacalet’s hands, the results are compelling. Philippe Pacalet is one of Tim Atkin's 2024 Top 15 Négociants & Cooperatives .