An Evening of Chambolle-Musigny
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tasted Saturday, May 17, 2025 - Sunday, May 18, 2025 by TheThirstyArab with 127 views
Introduction
This evening was designed to allow others who are learning the terroir of Burgundy to get an opportunity to sample from the top Premier Crus (and a bottle of Vogue Musigny that I pulled from my cellar because I think everyone should have drunk aged Musigny once!). Champagne portion of the evening was guided by one of the big importers of grower champagne here in the UAE, so really proud of how the selection came together.
2009 Roses de Jeanne / Cédric Bouchard Champagne Blanc de Blancs Oenothèque La Bolorée 97 Points
France, Champagne
(5/17/2025)
The Oenotheque here refers to the fact that this has been in the private cellar of Cedric Bouchard himself, ageing until release (which seems to be done on an ad hoc basis). Disgorged in 2013, this is made from 100% Pinot Blanc - and therefore, in spite of no Chardonnay, can be correctly referred to as a Blanc de Blanc. Was opened for an hour prior to serving, to allow it to broaden up.
Simply put, this is the greatest example of 'grower' champagne I have ever sampled. This had everything you could ever want providing you do not need your champagne to be in the new oxidative style. This was so aromatic; honeysuckle melon, tea and some stewed apple quality. The palate was totally different, for sure not lacking in fruit or acidity but defined by its mineral qualities. This is before I get to the sheer length of this wine, so unlike other champagnes which impress up front but lack staying power.
In truth, I should probably score this higher - I do not simply out of the sincere belief that there is even more complexity to come from the fruit and the acid in the coming years. A potentially perfect champagne...if you can get hold of it.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
2022 Jérôme Prévost Champagne La Closerie Fac-Simile 93 Points
France, Champagne
(5/17/2025)
Surprisingly different to the last bottle that I had of this champagne. Maybe it underwhelmed compared to the Cedric Bouchard served next to it, but this also felt like it had less of the tartness and bruised fruit quality this time around. Still very distinctive as far as champagnes go, and obviously so young and so tight today. Slightly less impressed, and reflected in the score, but still a big believer that these champagnes will age like a dream in the long term and become something special.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1997 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
(5/17/2025)
Bottle 121. The second of a pair of bottles that I got at auction. No doubt in my mind that this was the better of the two.
Had a wonderful colour for the age, there is some thinning on the edges but still has a perfectly intact core. You get so much foilage and forest floor with this wine, and even the nose has the complexity that one comes to expect of Musigny. Mushrooms coming through as well at the back of the aromatics.
The palate was more secondary than tertiary, none of the tea leaf that I associate with truly mature Burgundy. Managed to hold up with the fruit for an hour plus in the glass, could not tell that this bottle was a 1997 at all. The tannins are definitely showing their strength (pronounced, as the cool kids might say) but the full integration made this so worth while.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2002 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
(5/17/2025)
On the night, everyone else was raving about how good this wine was, but could not find exactly the characteristics that meant it received such high praise. Unfortunately, this wine did nothing for my belief that Roumier is not deserving of the sheer scale of the reputation they enjoy today even if the wines are clearly well made.
The nose was uninteresting and, you might argue, delicate or mute depending on your perspective for these things. The wine was definitely not shut, because this probably had the least pronounced tannic structure of all the wines that we drank. But the palate lacked texture for me, almost too 'feminine' to be drunk right after a Musigny and be fully appreciated.
For sake of completeness, cannot rule out bottle variation because the tasting notes below this are very different, but no identifiable flaws which could be offered as formal explanation.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny
(5/18/2025)
This was the other bottle of Mugnier from a pair of bottles brought from the cellar of a friend to the UAE. Sampled initially from Coravin, and then the rest of the bottle was drunk with friends. That three days of extra micro-oxygnation made the world of difference for this wine. My initial perception when I drank this three days prior is that the structure was noble but that the fruit had either been lost to time or was unable to express itself because of how shut the 2005 vintage can be.
However, by the time it was drunk the second time, it was an absolute dream - still managed to keep almost all of the initial weight, but here you could now find the quintessential Chambolle red fruits in a surprising concentration. Tannins were much less pronounced, more in line with what I would expect of a 20 year old village wine. Acidity was still going surprisingly strong.
Without the potential for complexity that comes from the very best material, this is the best this wine will likely get. A hard one to judge whether you should drink up or stare down the barrel and hope you can fight through the vintage characteristics to get a graceful wine that doesn't need considerable air time to show.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
2019 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
(5/17/2025)
Do not have as comprehensive notes as others on the night, as I was on bottle preparation duty but did not need to check this wine as it was ex-Domaine and the cork looked in wonderful condition. Others reported this being the best White Burgundy they had tasted in some time, I was nowhere near that belief even though it was clearly very nice. I think what the other gents liked about it is that it was really like a bacon fat wash had been put into a wine. I did not know that Chassagne-Montrachet could get quite this oily. The finish offered little in the way of respite, even if a touch more mineral.
This was part of my problem though, the acidity was not enough to really hold the strings together. It might seem ridiculous to describe a white Burgundy as 'too intense' but that is how I felt about this wine right now. Like all the great Chassagne Montrachet, fantastic ageing potential and definitely one to seek out for long term cellaring.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2009 Joseph Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
(5/17/2025)
For a bottle of Chambolle-Musigny, I was surprised by how much this bottle was defined by the presence of dark fruit both on the nose and on the tasting profile. Another reviewer noted the feeling of Gevrey Chambertin, which this experience definitely tracked with Violets and Black Raspberry fill the olfactory world, but immediately pointing you towards a wine of concentration.
The palate ended up being somewhat delicate, and unfortunately confirmed a previous discussion I had with friends around the 2009s not currently showing their best work in the top Crus at the moment. Oxygen, if anything, made things worse, hollowing out what is meant to be a punchy wine. The weakest of the Les Amoureuses that we had on the night. Still very pretty, just needs a couple more years of cellar time if you are looking for the full range of complexity..
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2010 Domaine Robert Groffier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 94 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
(5/17/2025)
This nose is some fresh red and purple fruit, this is the embodiment of what Chambolle Musigny has to offer aromatically. Others claiming tertiary qualities on the nose, but neither I or the other host could find it. Violets and some powder as well, almost confected cherry nose which was in contrast to the other Les Amoureuses had on the night. Smelt so good that you almost did not want to drink it.
Yet, drink it we did, and full confirmation that these wines need longer than the community drinking window suggests. The palate is actually thinner and cooler than the other wines we have had, a bit of disappointment, but you could get the plum quality for sure. Medium finish and the acidity was just a tad out of place. Definitely one I would leave to age for some time, because it does need some more opportunity to harmonise. This is picking straws though, still obviously a wonderful wine worthy of your attention.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
2019 Domaine Robert Groffier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
(5/17/2025)
Short notes as in the midst of conducting a three-way blind. This was really eye-opening for a couple of reasons. The first was to see how much more approachable the winemaking for this Les Amoureuses has become in the last decade or so. No hint here of the potentially impeding 2019 vintage shutdown.
The only way to describe the fruit here is seriously pure, even though it is still currently somewhat shy behind some seriously big structure. Tannins are already well-integrated, though obviously with time they will get some extra refinement. Still primary even after half a decade in the bottle - this is definitely going to be one for the long haul.
In a word, brilliant, and Nicholas Groffier is showing exactly why he is starting to be considered the last word on Les Amoureuses.
Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
2019 Lucien Le Moine Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Baudes 91 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
(5/17/2025)
Shortened notes as in the midst of conducting a triple-blind. This was one of the few wines that I had on the night that did not bring me immediate and considerable drinking pleasure. This felt like all the pleasurable elements of this wine had been curtailed by the creeping but increasingly clear dominance of the acidity and the tannins.
It is strange to come across a scenario where Les Amoureuses in this vintage was less shut than this bottle - though I have little experience with this winemaker to provide clearer insights there. The other problem with the wine is that it definitely has a linear quality to it, and not entirely sure whether considerably more age will make this more charming.
Definitely one to lay down now, the opportunity to drink this wine on the fruit has rather passed I feel.
Read 2 Comments / Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2019 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées 95 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru
(5/17/2025)
Shortened notes, as was in the midst of conducting a three-way blind. Not sure entirely why the drinkers remarks vary so much from that of the critics. My only presumption is that it did not show well in the barrel for reasons that will remain a mystery. Like many other here, this was my undisputed Wine of the Night!
I didn't get the sense that this wine was all that compact now, though there is still an alluring intesnity to the way in which the red fruit opts to express itself. Sometimes I find myself using this nebulous concept of 'energy' - whatever it means precisely, this wine has it in abundance. Acid and tannins play a merry dance on the edge of a vinous cliff-face, threatening to overpower but at all times simply teasing how much more the structure has to give. I don't think this has the same longevity as the 2019 Les Amoureuses which were tasted alongside it, but honestly there is no value in waiting on wines like these. They are so so sexy now, and it would almost be a pity to wait until the fruit is mellowed out.
But that is a subjective point about style. The objective truth is that Mugnier is a master of letting his terroir do the talking. In good vintages like 2019, this produces an absolute gem of the wine, decadant in its pleasures.
Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2022 Camille Thiriet Bourgogne-Aligoté du Jardin 92 Points
France, Burgundy, Bourgogne-Aligoté
(5/17/2025)
Second bottle of this cuvees, and was sidestepped by how little this matched up to my previous experience. Where the nose had previously been tropical, this bottle was showing some serious flint and reduction. Can imagine that this would blow off pretty easily for those who do not enjoy that kind of white Burgundy, but I am a fan personally so it put a smile on my face.
It is worth noting that this 92 is even more of a triumph for Thiriet given that I am really not a fan of most Aligote that is made today. Too acid-forward for my tastes. However, the combination of rich decadant Lyonnais chocolate dessert meant that it was surprisingly moderated. Still quite tart, but had some white apple to it as well. Crunchy texture overall, really a leader in the Aligote game and one well worth having almost regardless of vintage.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No