Were you quick enough to secure Vigot’s exquisite $90 Vosne bottling? The one sourced from the same vineyard cult legend Mugneret-Gibourg utilizes for their $500 cuvée? Congratulations, that’s a small victory in and of itself. Now, we present a rarer opportunity to take a few steps up in complexity, price, prestige, and elevation—quite literally.
To get to “Les Damaudes,” one must leave the village of Vosne-Romanée and pass directly through the heart of DRC’s $9,000 “La Tâche.” From there, you start a gradual climb up Premier Cru “Aux Malconsorts” which Montille bottles for $500, Dujac for $700, and Cathiard for $1,500. After a few more minutes of climbing, you’ve arrived at today’s special site, with all of Vosne’s glorious, painfully priced Pinot Noir real estate situated below. Here, Vigot organically farms heirloom vines approaching 90 years old and matures their prized fruit in an equal split of new and used French barrels. Given Burgundy’s stratospheric pricing, it’s one of the best 2020 Vosne experiences you can hope to have without spending hundreds. In case it needs repeating, Vigot’s highly limited jewels are loaded with tremendous depth, beguiling perfume, and the singular allure of the world’s most mythical Pinot Noir village. They are powerful, terroir-loaded paragons of Vosne-Romanée.
Domaine Vigot is run by Fabrice and Christine Vigot, who founded the estate in 1990 by combining the landholdings of their respective families. Most notably, Fabrice’s father was hired by the famed Dr. Georges Mugneret in the 1960s and tasked with farming some of their most prized vineyards in a sharecropping agreement that lasted through 2016. Meaning, the Vigot family played a significant role in the evolution of Burgundy’s most legendary, expensive, and sought-after wines—those of Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg. Wondering why their agreement ended? Successive low-yielding vintages nearly ruined Vigot financially, so although they had to part with premium parcels like “La Colombière” (which Mugneret bottles for $600-$900), Vigot’s six total hectares are now entirely estate-owned.
“Les Damaudes” is one of those vineyards that leaves you scratching your head raw, wondering how it was left out of the Premier Cru conversation, especially once realizing the portion that bleeds into neighboring Nuits-Saint-Georges (“Les Damodes”) holds that coveted status! The Vigots farm their sliver of ancient vines—planted in 1934—with organic principles and a biodynamic focus. In 2020, their grapes were hand-harvested and partially de-stemmed, leaving around half of the clusters intact during the native-yeast fermentation. The resulting wine spent 18 months in Burgundian barrels, 50% new. Bottling occurred without fining or filtering.
Given the ancient raw material, Premier/Grand Cru proximity, and limited production, “Les Damaudes” is unquestionably the crown jewel of Domaine Fabrice Vigot! But, just like their other bottlings, these wines need to rest in your cellar for a couple of years before they begin to unlock their true potential. That said, I found this to be the most enjoyable of Vigot’s trio of Vosne bottlings. With a two-hour decant, it revealed beautiful lift and finesse, with soft perfumes of black raspberry, cherry skin, and other just-ripened berry aromas intertwined with smoke, baking spice, pekoe, underbrush, and wet rock. If you’re consuming within the next two years, be sure to decant and track your bottle over several evenings. For those looking to cellar for the long term, I expect this has a life that will extend well into the 2030s. Cheers!
