2023 Domaine Michel Gros Richebourg Grand Cru Vosne-Romanée Cote de Nuits

Richebourg lies just north of Romanee-Conti and La Romanee, above the village of Vosne. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti owns close to half of it.

The Gros family has made wine in Vosne-Romanee since 1830. Jean Gros divided his estate among his three children in 1995. Michel, the eldest, received Clos de Vougeot and all of Clos des Reas. The family has owned that premier cru monopole since 1860. He did not receive Richebourg. His sister's domaine, A.F. Gros, bottles one. So does his brother's, Gros Frere et Soeur, and so does his cousin Anne's. For 27 years Michel's was the Gros domaine without it.

That changed in 2022, when a family lease ended and 0.41 hectares came to the domaine. The rows are in Les Verroilles, one of the two lieux-dits that make up the grand cru. They sit between rows of A.F. Gros and Gros Frere et Soeur, where parts of an old wall remain. The domaine's Aux Brulees premier cru parcel is next door.

Pierre Gros, Michel's son, has run the domaine since 2019, and this is his second Richebourg. Like the first, it was raised entirely in new oak. Tasted from barrel it was medium-bodied and slow to open, with the oak still prominent. New oak on grand cru Vosne takes years to settle, so buy this one for the cellar. If you hold the 2022, this is the bottle that goes beside it.