Winemaker Notes
Chic and delicate. This wine expresses the house’s distinct style with a never ending creamy delicate character on the palate as well as special wild flower and small red berry aromas
Pairs well with braised veal sweetbread
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Arnaud Mortet told me that he has reduced the new oak on the 2015 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Aux Beaux Brun to 30% from the 80% he used to use, since the soil here is warmer and does not suit such a high level. This cru is 100% de-stemmed. There is a sense of transparency on the nose: bright blueberry and raspberry fruit, violets and just a hint of iodine. The palate is very well balanced with super-fine tannin, a more feminine Chambolle-Musigny with a satin-like finish. Beautiful.
Range: 92-94 -
Decanter
Robust nose of black fruits, reticent now. Very rich and dense, a touch thick for Chambolle. It is muscular, quite oaky, and not yet harmonious, with a long, chewy finish. Needs time. Drinking Window 2019 - 2030.
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.