WTN: Pinot Gris in my Pinot Noir. Clos des Mouches 1996

Drouhin Clos des Mouches 1996 - Burgundy, France
13% alc. Cork closure.
They don't make pinot noir like this in New Zealand. This is earthy, savoury and gamey, the silky tannins could be considered even a little hard, but the impact of flavour, the funkiness, the complexity, the underlying acidity, the old fruit cake, the subtle spice. Even a bit of blood - or its that the lamb cooking in the kitchen? There's an orange brown tinge to the pinky red colour that is translucent in appearance - like a spessartine garnet and I love the salty herbal flavour to the finish. Oooh! Such a seductive and gorgeous wine.

So what is it that makes this wine so delicious? Perhaps it is the small amount of Pinot Gris that is in the blend? Yes, evidently the Clos des Mouches red is made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris according to the Drouhin website. Who would have thought?

FWIW, my note from March 2006 - and I didn't know that they added pinot gris to this wine.

Transluscent medium-ruby with plenty of rust in the outer edges. Pronounced white meniscus. Heavenly perfumed bouquet of pinot sap, sour cherry and plum, a little sous bois, truffles, spice box and beautifully integrated savoury oak. Silky light- to medium-bodied palate with similarly etched fruit backed by the vintage thumbprint of elevated, but in this case, not overblown, acidity and fine-grained, sympathetic tannins. Finishes soft and long with a delicacy I enjoy with this winestyle. Excellent and definitely worth of a look now but should last/improve for many years to come. Went brilliantly with the most succulent marinated free range/drug-free chook slow-cooked in the Weber.

Pinot Gris (or Pinot Beurot) is planted in a few Burgundy vineyards (especially around Beaune). It isn't widely acknowledged and isn't even always recognized because of the rather pink skin of Pinot Gris. Like the Northern Rhone, where a small amount of Viognier actually darkens the Syrah based wine through bonding and stabilizing the pigment, this apparently also happens with Pinot Gris and Noir in Burgundy. This is however the exception rather than the rule and the Clos des Mouches is one of the best known examples. I for one, have no objection and would rather like to see a single vine Pinot Gris/Beurot bottling from Burgundy.

Pinot Gris (or Pinot Beurot) is planted in a few Burgundy vineyards (especially around Beaune). It isn't widely acknowledged and isn't even always recognized because of the rather pink skin of Pinot Gris. Like the Northern Rhone, where a small amount of Viognier actually darkens the Syrah based wine through bonding and stabilizing the pigment, this apparently also happens with Pinot Gris and Noir in Burgundy. This is however the exception rather than the rule and the Clos des Mouches is one of the best known examples. I for one, have no objection and would rather like to see a single vine Pinot Gris/Beurot bottling from Burgundy.

Bill, are you sure that they are planted in those vineyards and not spontaneous mutations of Pinot Noir? PN is quite genetically unstable and is known to spontaneously mutate to PG and PB. In fact, Henri Gouges makes a white NSG from a plot of PN that spontaneous mutated to PB.

Mark Lipton

Pinot Gris (or Pinot Beurot) is planted in a few Burgundy vineyards (especially around Beaune). It isn't widely acknowledged and isn't even always recognized because of the rather pink skin of Pinot Gris. Like the Northern Rhone, where a small amount of Viognier actually darkens the Syrah based wine through bonding and stabilizing the pigment, this apparently also happens with Pinot Gris and Noir in Burgundy. This is however the exception rather than the rule and the Clos des Mouches is one of the best known examples. I for one, have no objection and would rather like to see a single vine Pinot Gris/Beurot bottling from Burgundy.

Bill, are you sure that they are planted in those vineyards and not spontaneous mutations of Pinot Noir? PN is quite genetically unstable and is known to spontaneously mutate to PG and PB. In fact, Henri Gouges makes a white NSG from a plot of PN that spontaneous mutated to PB.

Mark Lipton

It makes more sense that mutation would be the cause of these vines, but I don't know for sure. I wonder what the effect of better clonal selection of Pinot Noir not to mention GM vines (let's hope it doesn't come to that in Burgundy) will have on Pinot Beurots future in Burgundy.

FWIW, my note from March 2006 - and I didn't know that they added pinot gris to this wine.

Transluscent medium-ruby with plenty of rust in the outer edges. Pronounced white meniscus. Heavenly perfumed bouquet of pinot sap, sour cherry and plum, a little sous bois, truffles, spice box and beautifully integrated savoury oak. Silky light- to medium-bodied palate with similarly etched fruit backed by the vintage thumbprint of elevated, but in this case, not overblown, acidity and fine-grained, sympathetic tannins. Finishes soft and long with a delicacy I enjoy with this winestyle. Excellent and definitely worth of a look now but should last/improve for many years to come. Went brilliantly with the most succulent marinated free range/drug-free chook slow-cooked in the Weber.

Hi David. Great to read your notes too. I would love to taste this again in a few years - but heaven knows where I will get a bottle from.
Here is the website link for the Clos de Mouches red details.

Pinot Gris (or Pinot Beurot) is planted in a few Burgundy vineyards (especially around Beaune). It isn't widely acknowledged and isn't even always recognized because of the rather pink skin of Pinot Gris. Like the Northern Rhone, where a small amount of Viognier actually darkens the Syrah based wine through bonding and stabilizing the pigment, this apparently also happens with Pinot Gris and Noir in Burgundy. This is however the exception rather than the rule and the Clos des Mouches is one of the best known examples. I for one, have no objection and would rather like to see a single vine Pinot Gris/Beurot bottling from Burgundy.

Interestingly, they call it Pinot Gris, not Pinot Beurot on the Drouhin website. I've tasted a few Clos des Mouches reds over the years, but no-one mentioned the Pinot Gris component before - either that or it went in one ear and out the other.

Searching on Google I found a single bottling for you - it's called Mischief and Mayhem. I am sure there are others too.