Description
Domaine Fabrice Vigot, Vosne-Romanée
Speed readers have the advantage today because, unless you’re traveling overseas in the coming months, this US-exclusive offering will likely be your only chance to secure Vigot’s prized and forever-rare Vosne-Romanée. Despite living amidst the world’s most expensive and legendary Pinot Noir real estate, Domaine Fabrice Vigot elects to bottle among Vosne’s finest contemporary values. For that, we are forever grateful.
Now the inside scoop: Vigot’s mastery of organic farming allowed them to work directly with cult legend Mugneret-Gibourg for a half-century, but whereas Mugneret’s village cuvée now fetches $400-$500, Vigot’s supernova quietly remains under $100. Excited yet? You should be because these highly limited jewels are loaded with tremendous lift, beguiling perfume, and the singular allure of the world’s most mythical Pinot Noir village. Put simply, they are powerful, terroir-loaded paragons of Vosne-Romanée that are built to age. We believe in Vigot so strongly, we secured every bottle of 2020 that entered the country, an amount that could fit on my bookshelf with space to spare. Grab six, allow them to evolve in your cellar, and prepare to swoon.
Domaine Vigot is run by Fabrice and Christine Vigot, who founded the estate in 1990 by combining the landholdings of their respective families. Most notably, Fabrice’s father was hired by the famed Dr. Georges Mugneret in the 1960s and tasked with farming some of their most prized vineyards in a sharecropping agreement that lasted through 2016. Meaning, the Vigot family played a significant role in the evolution of Burgundy’s most legendary, expensive, and sought-after wines—those of Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg. Wondering why their agreement ended? Successive low-yielding vintages nearly ruined Vigot financially, so, although they had to part with premium parcels like “La Colombière” (which Mugneret bottles for $600-$900), Vigot’s six total hectares are now entirely estate-owned.
Today’s village-level Vosne-Romanee is sourced from the family’s various village-level parcels, most notably, “La Croix Blanche,” a lieu-dit in the southern reaches of Vosne that holds a trove of 70+-year-old vines. It should be noted that Mugneret-Gibourg also utilizes this prized site for their own Vosne bottling, but again, interested buyers must be prepared to pay $500 for theirs! In the vineyard, the Vigots employ organics with a recent focus on biodynamics. All of their grapes are hand-harvested and partially de-stemmed, leaving around half of the clusters intact for the native-yeast fermentation. The resulting wine spends 18 months in 228-liter Burgundy barrels, between 30-50% new depending on the vintage. Bottling occurs without fining or filtration.
NOTE: These wines need to rest in your cellar. Opening them now is like asking the young child of two Olympic runners to run a sub-five-minute mile. It’s not going to happen, but it most certainly will if given the proper time to develop. I expect a minimum two-year slumber in your cellar (or any cool, dark place in your home) will be enough for Vigot’s 2020 Vosne. If you’re dead set on opening one before then, decant at least 90 minutes or double decant and just let it breathe in the bottle, without the cork, for several hours. I tracked my bottle over three days and it began showing signs of profundity on the second evening. This is deep and polished, certainly, but there is also sinewy muscle, intense savor, and pronounced oak tannin that promises a long life. Squirrel them away!
