Winemaker Notes
Fine lace and silk are the words most often associated with this wine. Bright, intense color and complex aromas evoking violet, black cherry and damp earth. There are also notes of truffle and game. Refined tannins coat the palate. Good balance between texture and acidity. Long aftertaste, with notes of cherry and candied fruit.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
A pleasing ruby to crimson colour. Bouncing vigorous energy, especially perfumed in a Chambolle only way, that mix of fruit and flowers which defies specific description. One smell and you fall in love. Barrel Sample: (93-96)
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James Suckling
A blend of fruit from six different premier cru vineyards that are fermented together. It gives generous floral aromas with lots of black cherries, violets, star anise and cranberries on the palate. Elegant in texture, moderate in tannins and medium in body.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru is a blend dominated by Les Plantes and Combottes. Wafting from the glass with scents of raspberries, rose petals, sweet spices and cherries, it's medium to full-bodied, pure and seamless, with a layered core of fruit and a fine-boned, mineral profile.
Barrel Sample: 91-93
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.