Richebourg Grand Cru

When Gustave and Colette Gros divided Domaine Louis Gros in 1963, they inherited a sliver of Richebourg — roughly 0.7 ha on the mid-slope of Vosne-Romanée — and built a house philosophy around extracting maximum expression from it rather than whispering it into restraint. That philosophy has never wavered across three subsequent generations. The parcel sits on the classic Bajocian and Bathonian limestone bedrock threaded with iron-rich clay that gives Richebourg its characteristic density and ferrous depth; mid-slope drainage concentrates the vine's stress and compresses the fruit into the kind of structural intensity that rewards long cellaring. Vinification begins with hand-harvest and vibrating-table sorting, followed by full destemming and fermentation in temperature-controlled concrete tanks with remontage before alcoholic fermentation and twice-daily pigeage once underway. Maturation proceeds in 100% new 228-litre Bertranges-forest pièces, the domaine's own wood stock dried for two years before coopering, with the wine resting on lees without racking through the first year. Bottled unfiltered as standard practice. The special feature here is the house's deliberate refusal of Burgundy's minimalist orthodoxy: 100% new oak on grand cru is a provocation in the Côte de Nuits, producing a Richebourg of uncommon density and aromatic richness that diverges sharply from the terroir-transparency school. The 2022 vintage — not documented in the brand library with domaine-specific notes — should be assessed against the estate's established profile of deep colour, full body, and cellar-worthy structure.