Winemaker Notes
The wine displays aromas of blueberries, dark raspberries, and subtle notes of pepper and spice, with a profound and energetic palate supported by sweet, well-integrated tannins. It pairs beautifully with duck breast with dried fruit, œufs en meurette, rare lamb chops with herbs, and aged Comté cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru is beguiling on the nose with pure beautifully defined red fruit that soars from the glass. Real sophistication and utterly absorbing. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins very focused and harmonious. Precise, complex, engaging hints of Earl Grey infuse the red fruit on the finish that is so refined. Complete class. Precision, precision, precision.
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James Suckling
Plenty of red fruit character here, plus notes of wet earth, blood orange and violets. Excellent concentration for 2022 with beautifully integrated fine tannins, the fresh acidity helping to drive the long, delicately earthy finish.
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Jasper Morris
50% whole bunch. A medium deep purple with a lovely perfume, some darker fruit, actually quite sensual. A middling weight of deep sensual fruit then a much livelier finish, some citrus notes, with a finish which is entirely in red fruit. Very persistent indeed. The de Vogüé holding is on the red Bonnes Mares soil with some depth, but the wine is lively and with a white pepper finish. Drink from 2028-2035.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Decanter
This wine features spicy, intense blackberry and earth aromas, with an undercurrent of savoury notes and a smoky hint of ground coffee. This is more massive than the rest of the cellar. It remains a compellingly attractive wine, but seems more ‘Morey’ than ‘Chambolle’ in character, despite the fact that the domaine’s 2.7 hectares are clustered at the base of the slope at the southern tip of the appellation. After a careful sorting, the grapes were fermented with 50% whole clusters and the wine is currently ageing in cask.
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.