The rebirth of Vosne Romanée Les Clous

For several years we've heard it said: that you don't find 'Clous' anymore, no one carries it anymore, once you could find 'Clous' everywhere... This Vosne Romanée wine. I'll explain why it's hard to find. About 50% of this plot here was uprooted. The upper plot we kept is called Les Colombières. It is part of Des Clous as well. This lower plot we replanted is called Les Prés de la Folie. In 2009... we had a big freeze... in December. This severely damaged... at least 80% of the vines. We tried to save them, it would be a shame to dig up vines that could be or may still be viable, So we tried everything we could for 2 years... having had no real results, we decided to uproot them in 2011. We uprooted everything. We let the ground rest for five years, five years being the minimum to regenerate the soil. We planted different cereals, to loosen the soil as much as possible, and disinfect against the viruses, which could affect the vineyard. We replanted this year in April... and we had ideal conditions for it. The grafted vines are magnificent! We have a superb recovery, 100%. We chose the finest grafts... for optimal quality grapes... to make the best juice possible. The groundwork, we see here, no weeds at all... all done by pickaxe, which means doing it repeatedly, a lot of manual labor. Because a new planting requires a lot more care than an established vineyard, as even the smallest weeds or plants, will compete with the grafted vines for water and nutrients. So it's imperative that we minimize the loss of water, the competition with the weeds, and look after the vines in a timely manner. It's so pleasing to see such a recovery! We are truly at 100% everywhere. It's magnificent. The soil here is friable, almost like garden soil, nearly too much for a vineyard, but thanks to the work, done by pickaxe... the root system has done its job. and the frost this year has loosened the earth, making for a resilient soil. The grafts have everything together: the warmth, some humidity, and a friable soil. We'll be able to start vinifying the first grapes... in 3 year's time. In 2020, we will have our first vinification for this part. We don't yet know if we'll blend with the upper part, or even if the quality will be good enough at first... So it will be the quality of the juice... which will determine if we blend, or if we make a rosé, waiting until we have the optimum quality we expect when making our wines.