*Don't miss!* (from two separate parcels, one to the left of the Château and another situated to the right by the Meo-Camuzet vines) This is the first wine to display really prominent wood influence though it's not so much to overshadow the sauvage and earthy red and dark berry-suffused nose. This is also rich, powerful and concentrated yet the big-bodied flavors possess a sleek mouth feel as the firm structure is already well-integrated on the mildly austere finale. This is also very much built-to-age and is going to require extended cellaring.

Bright, moderately saturated red. Surprisingly expressive scents of dark cherry, redcurrant and spices come across as more open and liqueur-like than those of the Malconsorts. Then dense, supple and compellingly sweet on the plate, offering an enticing creaminess of texture and considerable refinement. Finishes with substantial ripe tannins and lingering sweetness. Much less austere in the early going than the Malconsorts.

The 2015 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru is aged in 45-50% new oak. The bouquet is very well defined with crisp red berry fruit, damp undergrowth, hints of cassis developing with time. The palate is medium-bodied, quite tensile and strict, linear, with a brisk saline finish that urges you back for another sip. Superb--though it faces tough challengers from some of the premier crus. My visit to Domaine Alain Hudelot-Noellat with hirsute winemaker Charles Van Cannyt was one of the most amusing during my never-ending forays in and out of domaines. Hot topics of discussion included whether his recent nuptials into the Gagey family of Louis Jadot precludes either husband or wife criticizing each other's wines across the dinner table, whether opera is rubbish (or not), in addition to one very funny anecdote that's probably best I do not share. In between our jabbering, I tasted through a terrific set of 2015s that serve notice that this domaine is really ratcheting up the quality. From the entry-level Bourgogne Rouge onward, these barrel samples reaffirmed my estimation of Hudelot-Noellat rapidly ascending to one of Vosne-Romanee's top growers by dint of the location of their vines, rather than the location of the winery that almost seems misplaced in Vougeot