Winemaker Notes
It is a rather rich, masculine wine, giving flavors of black fruit and spices, making way for excellent freshness and length on the palate with a slightly chalky feel. Although this wine is quite charming when young, it will reveal all its potential after resting a long time in the cellar.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
All pedicel from ancient vines. Very millerand grapes. Mid crimson. The bouquet is beautiful with a depth of plump red berry fruit and a sensuality that promises something on the wild side as well. Super fine balance afterwards, glossy yet complex with a very long suave finish. Barrel Sample: 95-97
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Vinous
The 2023 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru comes from old vines that suffer millerandage on the mid-slope, done with 80% whole bunches with the central stems removed. It has a clean and precise bouquet with blackberry, graphite, violet and crushed stone scents that blossom in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned, supple tannins. It is fleshy and sapid toward the finish but boasts an insistent grip, lingering with a touch of black pepper on the aftertaste. This is a serious Bonnes-Mares for long-term consideration.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Mortet's 2023 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru is a beauty, bursting with aromas of sweet red berries, incense, violets and anise. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it's supple, pure and perfumed, with a deep core of cool, succulent fruit, ultra-refined tannins and a long, saline finish.
Barrel Sample: 94-95
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Chambolle-Musigny represents the charm of the Côte de Nuits district of Burgundy. But you’ll find that term mainly in reference to the vineyards in its southern stretches, which border Clos Vougeot: the Grand Cru of Le Musingy and in part, its neighboring and most exceptional Premier Cru, Les Amoureuses. Some producers argue for the primacy of Les Amoureuses and its eligibility for Grand Cru status given its wines can sometimes surpass other Grands Crus.
Le Musigny ranks on par with the most acclaimed Grands Crus for Pinot Noir: Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg, Chambertin, and Chambertin-Clos de Bèze. It is also the only Grand Cru in Côte de Nuits for Chardonnay. All of the others are in Côte de Beaune.
This village can in fact claim only two Grands Crus vineyards and—in the context of breaking down the minutiae—they are markedly different. Bonnes-Mares, the other one at the far northern end above the village, bordering Morey-St-Denis, offers power, strength and great aging potential. But Chambolle-Musigny includes a nice handful of exceptional Premiers Crus, as noted above with Les Amoureuses as the finest. Le Fuees and Les Cras are other noteworthy Premiers Crus.
Overall, a top Chambolle-Musigny offers pure aromas of violets, dark cherry and damp earth, coupled with a velvety elegance, supple mid-palate, an abundance of black and red berry, and finesse and power through a long and fine-grained finish.