Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jasper Morris
Not really any deeper in colour, but the bouquet brings a smile to the face. There is a gorgeous succulent warmth to this, a red fruit which is ripe enough and brilliantly long. I have fallen in love with Les Amoureuses again!
Barrel Sample: 94-97 -
Vinous
The 2021 Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses 1er Cru shows the positive effect that winemaker Jean Lupatelli has had at this address, with this bottle far exceeding my predictions from barrel. It has a wonderful bouquet—ethereal red fruit laced with crushed stone and undergrowth, precise and quite compelling. The oak is seamlessly integrated, as are the stems. The palate is very well balanced with pliant tannins that frame the backward mainly black fruit laced with blueberry. Real
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses wafts from the glass with scents of sweet smoky berries mingled with notions of orange zest, peonies, spices and raw cocoa. Medium to full-bodied, with a broad and satiny attack that segues into a fleshy core of fruit, it's a perfumed, sensual wine animated by lively acids and concluding with a saline finish. This is a wine that will delight readers who love the Burgundy of yesteryear.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
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.