It is unfortunate that the yields are so far down here this year, as this is a simply brilliant bottle of young Clos Vougeot! The complex bouquet is deep, pure, sappy and almost musky in its constellation of cherries, red and black raspberries, violets, raw cocoa, gorgeous soil tones, gamebird and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very elegant in profile this year, with a sappy core, fine transparency, marvelous complexity and focus, fine-grained tannins and a very, very long, very elegant and promising finish. There is a real Vosne-Romanée personality to the Hudelot Clos Vougeot in 2016 that I find immensely promising.

(91-94) A pungent nose of reduction and wood makes an evaluation of it difficult today. There is both good density and punch to the vibrant big-bodied flavors that offer fine power but not at the expense of a certain level of refinement on the youthfully austere finale. A classically styled example.

Charles Van Canneyt frequently produces one of the best renditions of this storied grand cru, and his 2016 is no exception. A complex and exotic bouquet of smoked meat, black tea, spice and black fruit precedes a full-bodied, rich wine with excellent depth and dimension, good sap, and a taut but fine-grained chassis of tannin which I expect to flesh out further by the time it finishes its élevage. (Drink between 2026-2045)

(92 - 94 points) The 2016 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, which was cropped around 20 hectoliters per hectare, has a well-defined bouquet, more mineral driven than I anticipated, possessing plenty of detailed dark cherry and strawberry fruit. This feels nimble in the mouth, with fine tannin and a fine bead of acidity. Maybe it does not have the length and persistence of the 2015, but it is still a delicious, very elegant Clos de Vougeot.- NM