J-F Mugner Chambolle Musigny 2008

T

Tristan Welles

Tristan Welles
This is simply terrific wine. Just gorgeous. Calling it 'textbook' makes it sound boring, it is anything but. Perhaps more vibrant than resonant, but compelling all the same. No reason to wait, but it doesn't seem to be fading either. Pale color, as with many '08s.
 
I have always that that Mugnier's village Chambolle is almost the only 'textbook' Chambolle that exists. And I must admit to have always found it the most completely convincing of his wines.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
I have '08 Clos de la Marechale. Similar trajectory, do you think?
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Hmm, I try and buy C d l Marechale each vintage, but haven't touched the '08s yet. That's in part because I have always found the tannins tougher in Mugnier's Marechale. Tougher than his other bottlings and tougher than Faively's Marechale.
 
originally posted by Tom Blach:
I have always that that Mugnier's village Chambolle is almost the only 'textbook' Chambolle that exists. And I must admit to have always found it the most completely convincing of his wines.
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There are surely others, but Drouhin Chambolle 1er Cru is the one that comes immediately to mind for me.
 
The Chambolle-Musigny is the only time Mugnier blends different terroirs to get a result. In the case of the other wines they come from single vineyards (of course there are parcels within vineyards, however). Perhaps this is why there is the sense of a "textbook" flavor. It is blended in that likeness.

However, I certainly think of the Mugnier Amoureuses as "textbook" Amoureuses. You may disagree. The Bonnes-Mares is relatively young vines, so perhaps not "textbook" yet. The Musginy that I like so much is from less acreage than the de Vogue Musigny, and might be said to be less "textbook" as a result. I would still readily welcome a glass.
 
The Mugnier Chambolle may be a blend, but it's not much of one. Last I checked it was about half 1er cru Les Plantes and half from the village portion of Combe d'Orveaux. That actually makes its textbookness a bit of a mystery since the village piece of Combe d'Orveaux doesn't look like it should be part of Chambolle at all. On the map it looks like it should belong to Flagey, and it doesn't tend to taste much like Chambolle from those producers who bottle it solo. (The non-contiguous 1er cru portion is a different story.)

The Drouhin 1er cru blends vineyards spotted across the appellation, including a few in prime real estate, which might be why it does the job for me.

Textbook Musigny is of course a totally different topic from textbook Chambolle-Musigny, and I doubt that Tom was thinking of either of the grand crus with his post.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
The Mugnier Chambolle may be a blend, but it's not much of one. Last I checked it was about half 1er cru Les Plantes and half from the village portion of Combe d'Orveaux. That actually makes its textbookness a bit of a mystery since the village piece of Combe d'Orveaux doesn't look like it should be part of Chambolle at all. On the map it looks like it should belong to Flagey, and it doesn't tend to taste much like Chambolle from those producers who bottle it solo. (The non-contiguous 1er cru portion is a different story.)

The Drouhin 1er cru blends vineyards spotted across the appellation, including a few in prime real estate, which might be why it does the job for me.

Textbook Musigny is of course a totally different topic from textbook Chambolle-Musigny, and I doubt that Tom was thinking of either of the grand crus with his post.
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You should check your notes about the Chambolle blend, because you are off. Frederic Mugnier specifically told me he blends the parcels to balance each other out in effect, btw.

Your last sentence is non-sensical, since Tom says he finds it "the most completely convincing of his wines." You think that statement would exclude some of the most famous of a small lineup of wines? I don't.

Signing off from this discussion, because it is a waste of time to argue here, or to post here in fact.
 
For the record:

"Size: 1.3 ha (3.21 ac)
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vine Age: Planted from 1952 to 1998
Terroir: 2 different lieux-dit, La Combe d'Orvaux and 1er Cru Les Plantes, both east-facing, with mostly limestone soil"

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www.beckywasserman.com

So tell me where I'm "off."
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Tom, help us out here. What were you thinking of?
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Nothing too controversial-simply that it has often seemed to me that the widely accepted characterisation of Chambolle applies to rather few of its wines but that this is one of them, as indeed Drouhin's examples from the village often are, including the Musigny, with its superbly intense aerien fragrance and very gentle power. I have perhaps been consistently unlucky with Mugnier's other wines(though an 01 Amoureuses was wonderful recently), finding them gruffly unready no matter what the vintage, though I have hardly any experience post 2000 and I gather things have changed greatly.
Great addresses like Barthod and Vogue produce wines that are far more masculine than the Chambolle image, like the splendid old Faiveley versions of Fuees and Combe D'Orveaux, but Chambolle is no longer affordable to mere mortals on the whole.
 
originally posted by Tom Blach:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Tom, help us out here. What were you thinking of?
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Nothing too controversial-simply that it has often seemed to me that the widely accepted characterisation of Chambolle applies to rather few of its wines but that this is one of them, as indeed Drouhin's examples from the village often are, including the Musigny, with its superbly intense aerien fragrance and very gentle power. I have perhaps been consistently unlucky with Mugnier's other wines(though an 01 Amoureuses was wonderful recently), finding them gruffly unready no matter what the vintage, though I have hardly any experience post 2000 and I gather things have changed greatly.
Great addresses like Barthod and Vogue produce wines that are far more masculine than the Chambolle image, like the splendid old Faiveley versions of Fuees and Combe D'Orveaux, but Chambolle is no longer affordable to mere mortals on the whole.
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Tom, hello from Oakland, and do you have thoughts about if/how Barthod's Chambolle-Musigny A.C.'s and premier cru Veroilles aging are affected by their putative masculine swagger, compared to others' more gentle charms? I'm thinking 2004-2009's. Any experience you may have, I welcome. I was fortunate recently to open and taste 2001 Chambolle-M, Veroilles, which was beautiful on the nose and stern in the mouth. A gender-bender.
 
I can't help much with that period, Karen, from 2005 they became too expensive for me but I've drunk quite a few 04s. The village and Bourgogne show beautifully now but the 1ers I've drunk have the quality that has marred many 04s almost more than any others. I'm pretty convinced that it is not permanent given what has happened to other wines but I would forget them for a few years. The Veroilles is a little Bonnes-Mares. The 92 was magnificent recently but still structured so I while I might try 06 and 07 I'd leave the others well alone.
 
I think Barthod's 01s were/are rather atypically (for her) accessible young

If only Claude (or maybe inexplicably grumpy Levi) would post on this thread i think he'd point out that the femininity we associate with chambolle is not a trait of much of the terroir in chambolle. I think it depends on which side of the combe the lieu diet lies. Or something.
 
originally posted by Tom Blach:
I can't help much with that period, Karen, from 2005 they became too expensive for me but I've drunk quite a few 04s. The village and Bourgogne show beautifully now but the 1ers I've drunk have the quality that has marred many 04s almost more than any others. I'm pretty convinced that it is not permanent given what has happened to other wines but I would forget them for a few years. The Veroilles is a little Bonnes-Mares. The 92 was magnificent recently but still structured so I while I might try 06 and 07 I'd leave the others well alone.
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Tom, and Maureen,
Thank you for your notes and thoughts on Barthod, etc. I appreciate what you think/taste/feel.
Karen
 
I really like Ghislaine Barthod - the #1 producer in my cellar by quantity. I find that they do sometimes show a bit more structure than the most delicate/elegant Chambolle, but certainly not in a modern sense. The wines age gracefully. I love the style of the wines when they are ready to go. The wines - nearly the entire portfolio - outperform....even the batons is great for what it is. 93 fuees/cras have been in a really good place for a few years. I have some 98s ready to go.

I also like Mugnier CM AC - it's the only bottling I'd still buy from this producer. A 2005 was surprisingly enjoyable (and still young) a few months ago. None of the bad aspects of 2005 showed up...as much as I like them, I'd still rather drink Barthod 1er.

-mark
 
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