Vogue Musigny Dinner at Charlie Trotter's

My Chicago-based Burgundy group, the Lieu-dit Cru, got together for dinner to share 15 vintages of Vogue Musigny as well as a few other odds and ends. Flights are served single blind, so everybody basically knows what is n the flight but not what is in each glass. Group isn't told the ringers in advance, but I knew them because I organized the flights. Some really great food from Charlie Trotter's as well as the greatest service.

Contrary to what is often reported, Vogue can call this Musigny if they want.The only alternatives for labeling white wine from Musigny are either (1) Musigny or (2) Bourgogne. They are not restricted by vine age, but don't think the wine is yet Grand Cru quality.

• 2004 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bourgogne Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  Single blind in flight of three vintages of Vogue blanc. More citrus than anything else with fairly good minerality and acidity. However this was short and simple, and didn't come across to anybody as that interesting.

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• 2003 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bourgogne Blanc 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  Single blind in flight of three vintages of Vogue blanc. Nose and palate both showed pineapple and other tropical fruit character, but still had a good sense of balance. Good fruit density and concentration without coming across as flabby. Good finish. Best wine in the flight, and i think this wine will get better. I had a bottle just after release and drank it over three days, with the final 1/2 glass on Day 3 being the highlight.

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• 2000 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bourgogne Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  Single blind in a flight of three vintages of Vogue blanc. I think this was on the good side of being prematurely oxidized, but this was showing way too much age for the quality and style of good white Burg from the 2000 vintage.

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We wanted to start with the oldest wine so that we could focus on elegant older Musigny while our palates were still fresh.

• 1969 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  There is always risk with older wines with ambiguous provenance, but this bottle looked to be in good shape with good color and a reasonable fill level for its age. Wine had some good texture and mouth feel, but was too earthy and old with little remaining charm. Obviously this bottle was well past its prime. served alongside the amazing 1978.

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• 1978 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  My first time I can recall trying this wine, and it was a gem. Bottle had good color, good fill. Exceptional fruit showed mostly red fruit with some lingering hints of darker fruit as well. While more earthy than primary, the fruit just wouldn't go away. Powerful and long finish.

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For a change of pace, we decided to progress from younger wine to older wine.

• 2004 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Single blind in a flight of young Vogue Musigny. Very good fruit with lots of power and good spice. But the least elegant and balanced wine of the flight. Some good 2004s are showed less of that unfortunate "green" than they did a year or two earlier but I can't really think of many where it has completely disappeared. This bottle still had it quite clearly, and everybody was fairly easily able to identify the 2004 in the flight of 4 glasses. I am concerned it will ever disappear or lose its vegetal edge.

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• 2001 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Tasted single blind in a flight of young Vogue Musigny. Decanted 2+ hours. Very nice red fruit on both nose and palate. This was rather lean, with acidity and tannins needing a bit more time to fully integrate, but this will evolve into an excellent wine.While I guessed this wine's vintage correctly, I guessed it was the flight's "ringer" (Vogue 01 Amoureuses) because the Amoureuses showed so much better at present.

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• 2000 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Single blind in a flight of young Vogue Musigny. Decanted about an hour. Lots of fruit concentration and spice, this wine displayed great density. Moderate structure, I found this to be very approachable now. I thought this wine showed much better right now than the 2001, but I think the younger wine might have greater long term potential.

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• 2001 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

  Served single blind as the "ringer" in a flight of young Vogue Musigny (00, 01, 04). Decanted over an hour. Interestingly, this was my WOTF, as well the group's. Great combination of red and black cherry on nose and palate. Also very elegant spice. Not nearly as lean as the 01 Musigny, the fruit and spice were far more accessible for now. Really great flavors and textures.

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I didn't serve the wines in consecutive vintage order thinking the prior flight would be leaner and this flight more concentrated.

• 2002 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Single blind in a flight of young Vogue Musigny. Decanted 2-3 hours. Wow, this had incredibly dense and intense fruit with great spice. There was at least as much power as fruit and spice, with huge tannins and acidity. Amazing aromatics and a sensational finish, but not perfectly in balance right now. I can't wait to try this again 2025 or later.

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• 2003 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind in a flight of young Vogue Musigny. Decanted 2-3 hours. Intense ripe fruit, but still in balance. Unusually much more black than red fruit. Tons of spice. Impossible not to really like this a lot, despite a bit of heat on finish. This will really be sensational in 5-10 more years.

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• 1998 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  I guessed in advance this would be WOTN. Guess not. Rather badly corked.

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• 1998 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru

  Served as the "ringer" in a single blind flight of young Vogue Musigny (98, 02, 03). Decanted 2+ hours. Wonderfully floral and spicy aromatics. Lots of gorgeous strawberry and red/black berry flavors with plenty of minerality, density and energy. This was really a gorgeous wine and almost stole the flight from some great vintages of Vogue Musigny.

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• 1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind in a flight of Vogue Musigny. Decanted 3 + hours. Still almost completely primary, this was dense and powerful with massive concentration. Not very accessible right now with lots of tannins and acidity. Needs another decade+. Great length.

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• 1993 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind in a flight of Musigny. Big and bold wine on both the nose and palate. Less floral than most of the other vintages in the evening. Musigny's proverbial "velvet glove" was wearing thinner velvet than usual in this case. Not the best bottle of the 93 I've had, but still very nice.

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• 1993 Louis Jadot Musigny

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind as the "ringer" in a flight with Vogue 1993, 1995 and 1996 Musigny. Great combination of red and dark fruit, with some great earthy character emerging on the finish. Dynamic expressive nose shows tons of fruit and spice. This really showcases the great texture you expect from a great Musigny. Great finish. Served blind, I thought this was the 93 Vogue and was excited to see it was Jadot when revealed. This is just entering its peak and I'd expect this to great for another 20 years.

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• 1995 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind in a flight of Musigny. Decnated 2+ hours. Truly sensational in every way. OK, this showed lots of ripe fruit, with flavors of black cherry particularly prominent. Good floral aromatics and great spice on the palate along with some cocoa and espresso. This has so much concentration and dry extract that it lasted forever and ever on the finish. Really sensational, if not completely "classic" Musigny. Seemed much more vibrant than when tasted in SF earlier this year.

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• 1986 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind in a flight of 86-91 Vogue Musigny. Not flawed, but not good at all.

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• 1989 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind in a flight of Vogue Musigny 1986-91. Decanted an hour+. Almost all secondary character on the nose and palate, showing lots of earth and leather. At a nice place right now. Not much acidity or energy, so I'd be drinking this up.

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• 1990 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind in a flight of Vogue 1986-91 Musigny. Easy to identify since it has shown quite consistently the 4-5 times I've tried this over the past 5 years. My bottom line is that this is a very good (93ish point) wine, but certainly not characteristically Musigny or even Burgundy Grand Cru. I like this wine now, but understand others' perspective that this might transform into something more "classic" in another 10+ years.

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• 1991 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

  Served single blind in a flight of Vogue 1986-91 Musigny. Nice balance of fruit and secondary character on the nose and palate. Moderate spice, reasonably good length due to very well integrated tannins and good acidity. Probably the best 750 I recall having, but not quite as good as a magnum at dinner in Burgundy last month. Probably not going to get much better in this format, based on this showing.

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I think we ended with a great 1970 Taylor or Grahams which I should remember since I brought it. Charlie also bought us a bottle of wine to taste blind, but I was still focused on the last of the Musigny in front of me. Great night.