Celebrating 100 years of Joseph Drouhin’s Clos des Mouches

This year the renowned Burgundy producer and négociant, Maison Joseph Drouhin, celebrates the 100-year anniversary of their ownership of Beaune Clos des Mouches 1er Cru, a vineyard named after the honeybees who would forage here.

Their first parcel was purchased in 1921 by Maurice Drouhin, son of founder Joseph, after he took over the family company in 1918. Maurice’s objective was twofold: to improve the quality of Maison Drouhin wines; and to secure his grape supply by buying vines.

Since transportation was still by horse in those days, he decided to buy a high-quality parcel that he knew and liked, and which was not far from their winemaking facilities in the centre of Beaune.

Scroll down to see scores and tasting notes for 11 Clos des Mouches wines

Though it would still be 22 years before Clos des Mouches was officially recognised as a premier cru by the French appellation system, the vineyard had been acknowledged by both well-known botanist Jules Lavalle and wine critic Camille Rodier, as a top cru (‘1ère Cuvée’ & ‘Tête de Cuvée’) in both 1855 and 1920, respectively.

Clos des Mouches therefore represented exactly what he was looking for.