Winemaker Notes
The estate's vines (nearly seven acres) are all located on the Chambolle side of Bonnes-Mares. The terroir here has more red clay (where Morey has more marl and limestone) for a more velvety-textured, rounder wine, with characteristic aromas of violets and wildflowers.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This great Bonnes Mares starts cool and restrained, but expands rapidly as it moves over the palate, with delicate, spicy almond and cream character. Mouth-filling and generous yet subtle and light-footed, this is at the upper limit of medium-bodied. Then a huge wave of salty minerality comes through at the finish to give the wine a whole extra dimension and making this an almost overwhelming expression of beauty.
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Jasper Morris
In bottle. Made as three cuvees, then assembled. A rich mid purple with a deliciously heady bouquet, the sumptuous side of dark raspberry, perfumed yet precise, purple fruit with some redder layers beneath, a little white pepper spice, multiple layers of fruit, very engaging with just a very slight youthful bitterness.
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.