2020 Mongeard-Mugneret - Richebourg (750ml)

Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret has farmed vineyards in Vosne-Romanée since 1620, and took its present name in 1945 after Eugène Mongeard and Edmée Mugneret combined their family holdings. Their son Jean began estate-bottling that year, and his son Vincent has run the domaine since 1995. Today the property covers roughly thirty hectares across thirty-five appellations, including grand cru parcels in Richebourg, Échézeaux, Grands Échézeaux, and Clos de Vougeot.

The Richebourg vineyard sits on clay-limestone soil with an east-facing exposure, conditions that give it a reputation as one of the richest and most powerful of the Vosne-Romanée grand crus. Mongeard-Mugneret farms its parcel with controlled yields and hand harvesting, then vinifies with a portion of whole clusters before aging the wine in French oak, a substantial share of it new, for close to two years.

In its youth Richebourg from this house tends to show musk, leather, and dark cherry, with underlying notes of blackcurrant and preserved fruit that gain hawthorn and spice as the wine matures. The palate is dense and intense on release, built around firm structure and real concentration, and typically needs a decade or more in bottle to unwind into the elegant, sensuous wine the site is known for.