Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
Dense dark colour, with a really welcoming succulent Amoureuses nose, the fruit swells and fills the palate. Lower acidity here, so will be open for business early and the oak is showing. But lovely, as Amoureuses should be. Drink from 2025-2033.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Decanter
Drouhin’s Amoureuses has always been among the jewels of the domaine-owned properties. The house owns no less than four different parcels spread throughout the various sectors of the vineyard, with an average vine age of nearly fifty years. The 2021 vintage is seductively ripe for the vintage, with pronounced aromas of wild strawberry and brighter red currant fruit with copious floral overtones and a sweet, spicy character on the palate. The texture features significant density and a velvety tannic structure that carries the wine to a harmonious finish. The grapes are mostly destemmed and gently fermented before ageing in cask.
Barrel Sample: 93
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.