Knowledgeable Burgundy buyers are a smart bunch. It is part of their genetic code that knowing who the greatest producers are is far more important than the hierarchy of site for which the region is best known. 

Nowhere is this tenet more important than when applied to the legendary Clos Vougeot. As British authority Clive Coates has written, “At its best Clos-de-Vougeot can rank among the greatest Burgundies, alongside Chambertin and the best of Vosne-Romanée.”

But Clos Vougeot is subdivided among more than 80 growers, and their wines range from revelatory brilliance to expensive disappointment. That’s why Domaine Forey’s Clos Vougeot is on many an insider’s short list of the greatest examples from this hallowed Grand Cru.

Cases in point are the 2012 and 2014—from two excellent. Both have all of the deep richness, kaleidoscopic complexity and ageing potential of which Clos Vougeot is capable. 

Back Story

Regis Forey is the fourth-generation in charge of this venerable domaine, founded in 1840. And he makes his Clos Vougeot in a way that both emulates and honors those who preceded him. This includes a month-long vinification, using a high proportion of whole-cluster fruit; lengthy barrel aging with moderate new wood; and no fining or filtration. 

The results are what Burghound’s Allen Meadows describes as “classically styled old school” wines that are exemplars of what Clos Vougeot can be when no effort is spared in its tending and making. 

But the word on Forey’s Clos Vougeot has long been out, and the production from his tiny third of an hectare doesn’t begin to meet the demand...