Musigny Dinner from Top Producers

Custom House - Chicago IL
Tasted Monday, October 20, 2008 by Burgundy Al with 649 views

Introduction

I noticed that I had 1997 Musigny in my cellar from 4 of the top producers - Drouhin, Jadot, Mugnier and Vogue. Alas, no Roumier and Leroy tonight. But with these 4 bottles as the starting point, the Lieu-dit Cru (my Chicago-based Burgundy group) added a few more bottles and got together for a great dinner.

Flight 1 - Champagne to start (1 Note)

  • 1988 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 95 Points

    France, Champagne

    Great citrus aromas from the start. Clean, crisp flavors of lemon and lemon zest with lots of energy and acidity. Starting to show a trace of age around the edges, but this remains incredibly fresh and one of my favorite bottles of Champagne.

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Flight 2 - Blind whites (2 Notes)

One person typically brings two bottles of white Burgundy that have some relationship between the two, which we then proceed to try to identify, and of course usually embarrassing ourselves completely.

  • 1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet 93 Points

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

    Served in double blind flight with the 1999 "Cabotte." Started a bit lean with some pronounced oak. Took a while to show its full fruit and spice flavors. With time this became more floral with lots of peach flavors upfront, then more pear and apple towards the finish. We weren't 100% certain the correct wines were poured in each glass, so there is a small chance this is an assessment of the Cabotte.

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  • 1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte 91 Points

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

    Served in double blind flight with the ""regular" 1999 Chevalier. Ripe fruit from the start with some spice hints. Quite accessible with good white fruit. Opened up with a bit more time in glass but had a moderately short finish. We weren't 100% certain the correct wines were poured in each glass, so there is a small chance this is an assessment of the other Bouchard '99 Chevalier-Montrachet.

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Flight 3 - Small Jadot Musigny vertical (2 Notes)

We kept some of the 1997 Jadot to compare and contrast with the next flight as well.

  • 1985 Louis Jadot Musigny 95 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Great nose of red cherry, baking spice and concentrated mushroom. Same flavor profile continues from nose onto the palate, with really great minerality, acidity and silky textures. Really classic Chambolle and Musigny character comes through with that lacy texture and traces of iron. My WOTN, same for most people.

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  • 1997 Louis Jadot Musigny 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Another Jadot success from the challenging 1997 vintage. Red and black cherry on the nose and palate, plenty of spice as well. Shows very young and probably needing the most time on the four producers' 1997 Musigny opened tonight. This kept improving in glass and will keep improving with more time in the cellar. Particularly good acidity indicates this will last for another 15+ years.

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Flight 4 - 1997 Musigny Horizontal (3 Notes)

  • 1997 Joseph Drouhin Musigny 94 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Darker fruit and spice on the nose. Black cherry follows through to the palate with layers of spice. Perfectly integrated tannins, great acidity all lead to fantastic mouth feel and texture. Flavors evolved towards lighter cherry with more time in glass, picking up more layers of flavor. Close call, but this was my favorite of the 4 producers of 1997 Musigny opened tonight.

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  • 1997 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Nice floral aromatics, with more black cherry than red on nose with some Asian spice and black pepper. Same profile came through on the palate, with moderate intensity or power. This was probably the most advanced of the four producers' 1997 Musigny opened tonight and showed the least remaining structure.

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  • 1997 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Dense and powerful smells and tastes. Black cherry with intricate spice on the nose without much floral elements. Big meaty spices and black fruit on the palate. Good structure from both tannins and acidity that will keep this well preserved for decades to come.. Showed a bit of heat on the finish.

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Flight 5 - Some more Musigny (4 Notes)

  • 1996 Domaine Jacques Prieur Musigny 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Black cherry mostly on nose with very good spice. Still completely primary, with the same black fruit on palate which is well hidden for now behind lots and lots of tannin and acidity. Despite a couple of hours in a decanter, it was hard to really get a complete sense of if/where/when this will emerge as a really great bottle of Musigny. Upside from here, but I wouldn't revisit this until 2015 or 2020.

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  • 2000 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Floral and pretty aromas with wild strawberry. Strawberry and raspberry on the palate with moderate spice and only moderate density but really great iron and minerality. At a very nice place right now.

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  • 2000 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru

    Dense fruit on nose with nice combination of floral and spice elements as well. Black and red fruit on the palate with really great minerality. Good tannins, just okay acidity, I think this is drinking nicely now with just a little bit of upside from here.

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  • 2003 Faiveley Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées 85 Points

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

    Very ripe and dense with lots of spice and pepper, but i really couldn't get past the ripeness. Of course this was hurt by the fact that we had 8 bottles of great Musigny from top producers. I vaguely recall this being included as a "ringer" in the lineup because this wine was allegedly where Faiveley's tiny production of Musigny was dumped with 2003's tinier-than-usual yields.

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