Maxime Cheurlin Noellat Clos De Vougeot Grand Cru

When Maxime Cheurlin took over his family's Vosne-Romanée domaine in 2010 at age twenty, the entire estate had sold its production in bulk to Jadot and Drouhin for two decades — meaning every bottle under this label represents a reputation built from a single first vintage. That context matters: Cheurlin, a blood relative of the Jayer family and cousin to Emmanuel Rouget's sons, chose from the outset to pursue infusion over extraction, with rare and exceptionally gentle punch-downs that set him apart from the power-driven orthodoxy of the Côte de Nuits.

Clos de Vougeot's 50-hectare walled enclosure sits on clay-limestone argilo-calcaire soils in Flagey-Échézeaux, where the clay fraction delivers concentration and the fractured limestone provides drainage and aromatic precision — conditions that reward Cheurlin's low-intervention approach. Fermentation proceeds with indigenous yeasts only, preceded by a cold pre-fermentation maceration of several days. Aging runs 14–20 months in French oak at up to 100% new barrique at Grand Cru level, while the cellar is actively cooled to deliberately delay and slow malolactic fermentation — a technique Cheurlin adopted from around 2017 that critics including Allen Meadows credit with adding structural precision and complexity.

The 2020 vintage, despite its warmth and drought stress, produced wines of notably cooler, more classical Burgundy character than the decadent 2019 — vivid acidity, good concentration, and a more defined structural frame. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. Drink from 2026 through the mid-2030s.