Dom. Jean Grivot
Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru
Vougeot
2010

The producer

Jean Grivot was a giant of Burgundian winemakers making outstanding wines when much of the region fell prey to spoilage and lack of care despite demanding high prices. His example led many others to lift their game. Son Etienne and his wife Marielle took over in 1987 and continued the exemplary work producing top class Burgundies from vineyards around Vosne-Romanee.

The estate comprises 15.5ha including slices of Richebourg, Echezeaux and Clos de Vougeot now run by their daughter Mathilde since 2017. Other Premier Cru vineyards include the Grand Cru challenging Les Beaux Monts and Suchots in Vosne-Romanee and Aux Boudots (among others) in Nuits Saint Georges.

Mathilde farms organically without certification with the belief that healthy, ripe fruit makes the best wines. Attention to detail in vineyard and winery with the aim of clear expression of terroir result in some of the finest wines, especially from Vosne-Romanee.

The wine

Grivot owns 1.87 hectares of 50-year-old-vines, in the Quatorze Journaux lieux dit of the Clos de Vougeot. The domaine’s parcel runs from the bottom of the grand cru and upslope to the Chateau de la Tour building. Fruit is almost entirely destemmed, and following fermentation, ageing takes place in 30% new French oak barrels. A wine of power and suave fruit concentration, Grivot’s is a fine expression of Clos de Vougeot.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.