Patrice Rion Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras 2018
-
Jasper
Morris
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The wine is a deep color with flashes of sparkle. Small red fruits dominate, particularly redcurrants, followed by more complex aromas of white pepper and a sense of freshness. The wine is quite chewy for a Village-level appellation. It starts straight and tense in the mouth, with its minerality helping to draw out the finish to an impressive length.
Its open profile allows this wine to go well with most meats, but particularly well with feathered game such as duck, pheasant and quail.
Professional Ratings
-
Jasper Morris
Fresh lively purple, really classy pure nose showing a little bit of oak. Superb fresh raspberry fruit, some sweet cherry too, balanced with a fresh finish. Quite a lot of oak (one third new) though this might be the sample.
Barrel Sample: 90-93
Other Vintages
2021-
Jasper
Morris
-
Jasper
Morris
-
Jasper
Morris
The domaine currently farms 15 acres focused in the Nuits Saint Georges and Chambolle-Musigny appellations, and works with growers in other 1er Cru vineyards in the Côte de Nuits. The approach to viticulture in all vineyards is rigorous with vines that are pruned short and bud selection kept very low. The vineyards are farmed without herbicide, preferring to plow and hoe as a way to control weeds.
Patrice and Maxime do not believe that the “maximum” is the “optimum,” particularly when it comes to extracting phenolics, tannins, and color. Instead, you will find wines that maintain the freshness and minerality of Burgundian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Patrice is known for “very pure, harmonious wines, skilfully vinified,” according to Jasper Morris, MW.
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.