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Visit to Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg for a Tasting of 2018's from Barrel
Vosne-Romanée, France
Tasted November 8, 2019 by drwine2001 with 242 views
Introduction
Marie-Christine Mugneret took us through the entire range of the vintage, except for the Chambolle Musigny Les Feuselottes, which had recently been racked. She blended samples from 2 casks of each cuvée so that we could get a better sense of the final assemblage. Apparently the Echezeaux is the only wine to be vinified with stems.
Flight 1 (7 notes)
Red
2018 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Bourgogne
Barrel sample. Good saturation. Bright cherry and spice. Red fruit, good acidity, late soil, and just a lovely weight and feel for Bourgogne. What a start to the tasting; if the basic wine is so clearly above class, the higher echelon bottlings must be terrific (spoiler alert-they were!).
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Comment
Red
2018 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée
Barrel sample. Deep ruby. Flowers and cranberry. Tart mixed red and black fruit, elegant soil-filled feel, soft back end tannins. Suave and earthy. Lingering, 30 second finish. I would not have guessed that this came from a warm vintage.
Red
2018 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée La Colombiere
Barrel sample. This is an old holding right between the domain and the highway that they have not vinified separately since the 1950's. Clear ruby. Difficult to pick out the fruit character except for a piquant squirt of citrus. Light to medium body, gentle and subtle with outstanding acidity. Above all, a terroir wine; the clay enters early and clings after the wine leaves the mouth.
Red
2018 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Chaignots
Barrel sample. Deeply saturated. Green scents. Immediately rounder and richer than either of the Vosnes. Delicious, perfectly ripe red and black fruit, moderate level of acidity, gorgeous mouth feel, and an earthy finish that lasted 40 seconds. Unusually refined Nuits with great depth and decades of potential, which is not to say that it won't be enjoyable earlier.
Red
2018 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Echezeaux
Barrel sample. Bright ruby core. Spicy clove, green herb nose. Not as big as the Nuits but a little more oak. Beautiful soil/fruit balance with cranberry, cherry, and blackberry. Excellent back end acidity, and more austere tannins that bring the finish to an abrupt close. This has a different feel from the rest of the wines and is not my favorite today.
Red
2018 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Ruchottes-Chambertin
Barrel sample. Medium ruby. Soft red berry and soil aromas. Oh my, absolutely seductive tart red fruit, blueberry, orange peel, and soil which coats every square inch of the palate and persists well beyond the time that you swallow this. The ultimate in classy, sexy, terroir-driven Grand Cru Gevrey.
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Comment
Red
2018 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Clos Vougeot
Barrel sample. Deep ruby color, fragrant menthol. Sweet, round red and blue fruit with some underlying wood and more green elements than the other wines. Tingling citric acidity, ripe broad tannins, and again, a long finish that again is full of soil. Outstanding and elegant for the appellation, but not as fine as the Ruchottes. Of course this is nit picking and all about personal preference since they are both wonderful.
Closing
What is there not to like about either the Mugneret sisters or their wines? Tasting there was a great privilege and only confirmed what I have thought every time I've had one of their wines. That is, for my taste at least, this is one of the great domains of Burgundy, with wines that are amazingly discrete, yet authoritative and expressive.