Poured into a decanter and drunk over a few hours.
Another bottle with a bretty start. After a couple hours in a decanter, the brett blew off and it opened up with lovely dark fruit, earth, rose petal, and savory herbal notes. Mid weighted, supple and sappy on the palate with a pretty core of red and dark pinot fruit, more earthy and ferrous notes, and floral perfume. It’s a subtle, finessed wine with fine tannins and a softness to its texture. A lovely, sappy, understated wine. Again coming across as a NSG with it’s heart in Chambolle. At peak with plenty of time in hand. Pretty delicious with morels, leeks, and fresh peas over tajarin. 91 (91 pts.)
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This wine hasn’t changed much in the last couple years. It seems to continue to drink well in a youthful and very pleasurable mode. I like that character of the vintage. Not the most profound bottle, but complicated enough and offering a lot of pleasure in the bottle.
Surprised to hear there was some brett. Thanks for the note. Mugnier had a fantastic range in 2007, really complete, delicious wines that have drunk well young.
Jason, I agree it is odd, but the last 3 bottles of this I have had all were bretty to start. I’ve never had another bottling of his from any vineyard or other vintages of this wine that had brett. I also am happy with his '07s. It is my wedding year and I had the green light to go long on his wines, and I did. I think they will continue to drink well for a long time.
Lovely note. May I comment, though, that brett isn’t something that one should expect to “blow off”. If air did help the wine, it’s more likely what you smelled was a sulfur compound of some kind (or combination of multiple compounds). The chemical compounds that make up the dominant sources of brett aromas are quite stable, and won’t be affected by exposure to air.
Thanks for reading.
Alan, thanks for your insight. It certainly could have been a reductive note. It was what I thought was similar to a Band-Aid brett smell, or at least the best I could describe it. I have been wrong many times before, and I have not seen brett in any of Mugnier’s wines (having drunk quite a few). It certainly could have been a sulfur based compound/ reductive thing. Any ideas what it might have been?
Also, Io have a question about brett aromas blowing off. This is not to meant to be snarky, but to hopefully learn. I am a person who has drunk a fair amount of Pegau and older Beaucastel, and these are wines well known for their brett. Drinking these bottles, the brett aromas seem to become less pronounced with the bottle being left open or decanted. Assuming they are stable compounds, how do you explain that experience? Is it that your olfactory senses get used to it during the bottle or something else, or am I imagining things?
Thanks and again, this is not to be snarky at all, I am just trying to reconcile new information with past experiences and hopefully learn something.
Thanks in advance
Sounds like reduction to me.
Agreed, the impression of brett can sometimes deteriorate with air. My experience with wines from this vineyard going back to the Faiveley wines of the 80s and 90s is that the wines can often be quite earthy and rustic, but not bretty. Certainly the earlier renditions from Mugnier were quite tannic and rustic (savoury) but more recent versions have been more in tune with house style of redder fruits and finer structure, although more sturdy than their Chambolles.