Joseph Drouhin Clos des Mouches Blanc Premier Cru 2024

Originating from France in the Burgundy region, specifically within the Beaune Premier Cru AOC appellation in the Côte de Beaune, Maison Joseph Drouhin Beaune Premier Cru 'Clos des Mouches' Blanc 2024 represents one of the most legendary, iconic, and historically celebrated expressions of Premier Cru Chardonnay in Burgundy. Acquired parcel by parcel by Maurice Drouhin in the 1920s, this historic vineyard sits on the southern boundary of Beaune bordering Pommard, named after the sunlit beehives historically kept on the slopes (mouches à miel, the Old French term for honeybees). Maurice Drouhin daringly replanted half of the hillside to Chardonnay in 1928, creating what has become the flagship white jewel of the domaine. The vineyard features an ideal mid-slope, amphitheatre-like southeastern exposition with shallow, stony clay-limestone soils strewn with fractured Jurassic limestone that provides exceptional natural drainage and radiant heat. Under head winemaker Jérôme Faure-Brac and the Drouhin family, the estate applies strict organic and biodynamic viticulture: manual harvesting in small crates, gentle pneumatic whole-cluster pressing, spontaneous native yeast fermentation, and maturation for 12 to 15 months in French oak barrels (approximately 25% new oak). The result is an aristocratic white Burgundy renowned for its unctuous texture, floral perfume, and Grand Cru-calibre cellar stamina.

Wine Description

The wine presents a luminous, clear pale straw-gold colour with brilliant platinum and green reflections along the rim. An expressive, highly complex bouquet opens with noble aromas of ripe Meyer lemon, yellow peach, poached pear, and candied citrus peel, interwoven with sophisticated notes of white lilac, acacia blossom, crushed limestone minerality, beeswax, toasted almond, lemon verbena, and warm French oak pastry spice. On the palate, it is full bodied, silken, and energetic, delivering concentrated flavours of citrus oil, orchard fruits, and savoury mineral earth, all supported by a bright, mouthwatering spine of natural cool-climate acidity. Framed by a rich, multidimensional mid-palate structure and seamless phenolic grip, it concludes with an extraordinarily long, persistent finish marked by lingering citrus zest, toasted brioche, and a clean, aristocratic flinty mineral drive. Composed of 100% Chardonnay, this 2024 release offers an optimal drinking window spanning 2027–2040+. Stylistically, it combines lavish stone fruit generosity, lifted floral precision, and authentic Côte de Beaune mineral nobility.