Chambolle Musigny "Southside" 1er Cru Dinner

Chicago Lieu-dit Cru (my Burgundy group) wanted to compare the great Chambolle-Musigny 1er vineyards in the south (closer to Musigny) vs. those in the north (closer to Bonnes Mares). So this was our "southside" dinner, which we naturally held at a restaurant on the south side of Chicago - Custom House, one of our regular favorites.

• 1990 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon

  France, Champagne

  At a great place right now, still showing very crisp and clean lemon on the nose and palate, but starting to show rich charm of toasted brioche. I really like where it is today, but my preference for Champagne that is young and fresh makes me think I should be drinking the bottles I have left in the cellar.

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We typically start with two whites brought by one person. The two should have a close relationship between them, and we all embarrass ourselves trying to identify what we can about the wines.

• 2000 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Served blind. Color was indicative of the wine's age. Big lush fruit on nose and palate. Great fruit and spice as first tasted, oak is still a bit prominent in the middle, then long fruit-filled finish. Great minerality and acidity. I've had slightly more exciting bottles than this but I'd still give this a bit more time. I slightly preferred this to the Sauzet 2000 Chevalier also served blind in the next glass.

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• 2000 Etienne Sauzet Chevalier-Montrachet 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru

  Served blind. Bright yellow color, great freshness on nose and palate. Seemed younger than the Leflaive 2000 Chevalier (also served blind) in the next glass. Lots of citrus aromatics and flavors (mostly lemon). Lots of minerality and acidity contribute to very elegant finish. Less powerful than the Leflaive, for which I had a slight preference.

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• 1959 Hasenklever Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 87 Points

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

  One of our guys had this in the cellar, so I thought this might be a interesting wine to start. I had never seen anything from this negociant before. Wine was pleasant and fun with reasonably dark and sweet fruit. Highly unlikely this was 100% Pinot Noir.

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• 1998 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 86 Points

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

  Served blind. Musty nose to start. Fruit was austere and lean on the nose. Good lean red fruit on palate, then a bit too acidic on the finish which could have used more fruit for a middle-aged wine such as this.

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• 1996 Domaine Ponsot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 86 Points

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

  Served blind. Started nicely with ripe red fruit and spice on nose. Flaovr of strawberry, raspberry, dried herbs on palate. With more time in glass the finish started getting shorter and more heat became apparent.

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• 1988 Domaine Jean Grivot Chambolle-Musigny La Combe d'Orveaux 81 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny

  Served blind. Started with aromas and flavors of dried cherry and mild spice. Too much unresolved tannin from the start, then the fruit faded very quickly leaving an awkward half-glass of unhappiness.

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• 2003 Domaine Leroy Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 94 Points

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

  Served blind. Dense and spicy fruit on nose and palate. Mostly black cherry, but some strawberry as well. Fruit was incredibly ripe, but this wine has so much tannic structure and acidity, so no worry about this appearing too "California" or flabby. Powerful, long, impressive finish. This and its 1999 counterpart were the two good wines in the flight and it was hard to say which was better, but I was leaning towards this 2003 as WOTF, then also WOTN.

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• 1999 Domaine Leroy Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 93 Points

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

  Served blind. Superb elegant nose, very floral with rose petal and wild strawberry, which made guessing this as Leroy a no-brainer. Lots of red fruit and spice on the middle and finish. Some unresolved tannins also came through at the end, which is why I slightly preferred this wine's 2003 counterpart also served in this same flight. I think the 1999 might catch up but needs more time.

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Sorry but I lost page two of my notes. In addition to the single solitary wine I distinctly remember (described below), we also had 02 Hauts-Doix, 01 Amoureuses and 02 Amoureuses. The 99 Haut-Doix below was the best of the flight that night.

• 1999 Domaine Robert Groffier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Hauts-Doix 93 Points

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

  Served blind. Really round and sexy red fruit on the nose, which continued on to the palate. Lots of spice. everything balance together very well, with great acidity, minerality and tannins. This was served blind in a Groffier flight with 01 C-M Hauts-Doix, 01 C-M Amoureuses and 02 C-M Amoureuses. Almost everybody guessed this was one of the vintages of Amoureuses, and it was clearly the WOTF tonight. Go figure!

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I also couldn't my notes for our final flight of Chambolle-Musigny 1er Feusselottes , with 4 recent vintages from Mugneret-Gibourg and the 2004 from Cecile Tremblay. Hopefully I will find that random page some day and add those notes as well.