Domaine Maxime Cheurlin Noëllat is a small estate in Vosne-Romanée with holdings that include a parcel in the celebrated and complex Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, one of the largest and most historically significant Grand Crus in Burgundy at approximately 50 hectares within a single stone wall above the commune of Vougeot. The estate is part of the generation of small, independently operated Côte de Nuits domaines that have attracted a selective following among specialist Burgundy importers and collectors who seek wines of genuine character and careful production from vineyards that the major négoçiants and larger estates monopolise commercially. A Clos de Vougeot from a small independent grower carries all the privilege of the Grand Cru designation at a price point substantially below the most commercially visible producers from this vineyard.

Clos de Vougeot, despite its scale and the variation in quality between its northern and southern zones, remains one of the most evocative addresses in all of Burgundy: the original Cistercian monopole, walled in the 12th century and fragmented at the Revolution into more than eighty current owners, whose combined production ranges from the greatest expressions of Côte de Nuits Pinot Noir to wines that barely justify the Grand Cru designation. Cheurlin Noëllat’s parcel position within the clos is the key determinant of quality, and small-domaine owners with well-sited plots consistently demonstrate that the Clos de Vougeot terroir, at its best, can produce Pinot Noir of extraordinary weight, mineral depth and ageing potential. The 2021 vintage was shaped by spring frosts that concentrated the surviving crop into wines of unusual intensity and aromatic focus, a characteristic that should serve a Grand Cru expression well.

A 2021 Clos de Vougeot from a small, quality-focused independent grower represents a genuine Burgundy discovery for collectors who value provenance and attention to detail over the commercial prominence of the most heavily marketed Grand Cru estates. The combination of the frost-reduced 2021’s natural concentration and the Grand Cru’s inherent weight and mineral depth should produce a wine of serious ageing potential and collector interest over the next decade and beyond.

Deep ruby with a concentrated and complex nose of dark cherry, plum, forest floor, iron mineral, spice, dried rose and the distinctive earthy richness that Clos de Vougeot’s clay-rich alluvial and limestone soils reliably provide. Full-bodied with serious tannin depth, excellent natural acidity from the 2021 vintage and a very long, mineral, structured finish. Best from 2029 through 2048.