2008 Domaine d'Eugenie Clos-Vougeot
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S$50397
PRE-ORDER
Vintage : 2008
Region : Cote de Nuits, Burgundy
Country : France
About Winery
The untimely passing of Philippe Engel found a family with no natural successor that eventually decided to sell their domaine. It was a minor sensation when it was announced that ‘the Bordelais’ had swooped and paid a small fortune for the Engel domaine, though the team at the renamed domaine are keen to point out the rarity of such a property coming to the market. Normally domaines come up for sale after some period of neglect and requiring an injection of vigour and certainly some cash. Domaine Engel may not have needed the vigour, but the new team certainly need(ed) deep pockets.
When the family sold for a king’s ransom – reputed to be 13 million Euros – the new owner also had to find offices and a cuverie – the family may have decided to sell their vines, but they weren’t going to sell the family home. So the team of Latour, headed by Frederic Engerer, took posession of the vines in July 2006 and had literally 2 months to find somewhere to make wine. The interim solution – which will actually take in at least 3 vintages (2006-2008) – is to occupy available space at the Nuits St.Georges cuverie of Domaine Lupé-Cholet – aka Albert Bichot. It is a large cuverie with plenty of space; the team having their own equipment: triage table, de-stemmer, open-top oak fermentation tanks and even their own barrel cellar. It has been a relatively ‘open secret’ that the Clos Frantin cuverie of Bichot in Vosne-Romanée was to be the new home for Domaine d’Eugénie, though it couldn’t be confirmed until recently as no contracts had been signed. Bichot had moved out of the cuverie as they found it too small. The ‘clue’ for many months was the large sign for the building-works outside the cuverie – with the Eugénie name on it!
The current schedule of works suggests that the team would have control of the new (Frantin) cuverie in-time for the 2009 vintage – this, as ever, is only the expectation.
About Winery
The untimely passing of Philippe Engel found a family with no natural successor that eventually decided to sell their domaine. It was a minor sensation when it was announced that ‘the Bordelais’ had swooped and paid a small fortune for the Engel domaine, though the team at the renamed domaine are keen to point out the rarity of such a property coming to the market. Normally domaines come up for sale after some period of neglect and requiring an injection of vigour and certainly some cash. Domaine Engel may not have needed the vigour, but the new team certainly need(ed) deep pockets.
When the family sold for a king’s ransom – reputed to be 13 million Euros – the new owner also had to find offices and a cuverie – the family may have decided to sell their vines, but they weren’t going to sell the family home. So the team of Latour, headed by Frederic Engerer, took posession of the vines in July 2006 and had literally 2 months to find somewhere to make wine. The interim solution – which will actually take in at least 3 vintages (2006-2008) – is to occupy available space at the Nuits St.Georges cuverie of Domaine Lupé-Cholet – aka Albert Bichot. It is a large cuverie with plenty of space; the team having their own equipment: triage table, de-stemmer, open-top oak fermentation tanks and even their own barrel cellar. It has been a relatively ‘open secret’ that the Clos Frantin cuverie of Bichot in Vosne-Romanée was to be the new home for Domaine d’Eugénie, though it couldn’t be confirmed until recently as no contracts had been signed. Bichot had moved out of the cuverie as they found it too small. The ‘clue’ for many months was the large sign for the building-works outside the cuverie – with the Eugénie name on it!
The current schedule of works suggests that the team would have control of the new (Frantin) cuverie in-time for the 2009 vintage – this, as ever, is only the expectation.
94 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
Good medium red. Subtle, pure, high-pitched aromas of black cherry, blackberry, violet and licorice. Chewy, intense and penetrating, with plenty of stem-driven energy behind the saline, soil-driven flavors of minerals, dark berries and graphite. There's no easy sweetness here, but this builds impressively in the glass and leaves the taste buds quivering on the very long, lightly peppery back end. These firm tannins will need a decade of patience. Like the Grands-Echezeaux, this wine was aged in 80% to 90% new oak. 
