TN: 2014 Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Chaignots

Some on here, including William Kelley, told me either to not open this wine or give it lots of air – throwing caution to the wind, I went ahead with trying this anyway.

Obviously this is very young, but delightful even now. A dark-fruited nose with a whiff of refined oak. The palate is velvet, the definition of power without weight. Dark, brambly berries intertwine with cocoa powder and spice. With air the aromatics become more intense and the fruit profile turns a bit brighter. Grippy and well-proportioned, this will certainly age for much longer. While I’m glad I tried this bottle now, I will wait to open my next one!

Great note and, yeah, this wine is awesome. M-G killed it in '14.

M-G kills it virtually every year.

Scape and claw for every single bottle I can get, and agonize over every bottle I open.

Seems like it! Have the 14 Vosne on deck to try soon as well.

Don’t. It has shut down.

Smart people! Glad you enjoyed it. Honestly, M-G is one of those producers whose wines are rarely very shut down, so even the 14s are currently drinking well, even when you can tell the wine isn’t quite ready yet.

I’m glad it showed well, and I’m even more glad that you have more bottles to renew the acquaintance down the road! Les Chaignots from this domaine is one of the few remaining great values in pedigreed Côte de Nuits red Burgundy. The 1999 is magical right now. I am actually thinking of doing an article around a vertical tasting of this wine some time, though I hesitate to do so, remembering how happy I was, as a student, that one of the things that I really wanted to buy was actually within my budget.

either you all live in a parallel wine universe or have a bigger budget than I, it’s now pretty much a $200 bottle and the only 99 for sale on w-s is $400. I loved it at $100 . . .

Envoyer and some other sources had it a bit less then that, but it’s usually more than the VR now.

yes but w tax and delivery, it’s still about $200.

Yes, but I’m too impatient to listen to good advice!

Agreed on these wines, I’ve recently had some 14s that have been insanely open and expressive (Fourrier) and incredibly tight (Meo). This bottle was somewhere in between the two, but not a waste to open at this point.

Fourrier is always open haha. As far as 14 goes; I opened a Drouhin Laroze Beze recently and it wasn’t near ready. I think it’s not the worst vintage to open but structured wines will be pretty tight.

Yeah, mostly opening village wines at this point, and the odd 1er cru (like this one)

Mugneret-Gibourg usually drinks well young, nothing wrong with opening one, so long as you’re not expecting the finished product. I knew going it would be a bit angular, but it was still delicious. Some of my friends laugh at me for how much I dislike oaky wines, but there are some producers who really know what they’re doing with oak, like Mugneret-Gibourg, so I have no doubt that a 14 1er cru will integrate just fine. I had a glass of 07 Ruchottes on Monday, and oak was definitely not what I was thinking of

I’m also not surprised a 14 Fourrier showed open - they’re so good young. But not always - a friend generously opened a 17 Combe aux Moine, and while I called Fourrier blind, I thought it might be negoce because of how surprisingly closed the finish was. Was very surprised at the reveal, especially since I absolutely loved the wine at Paulee (it’s usually my favorite of his 1ers other than the CSJ).

228 GBP for six for the 2012 Chaignots… makes me quite nostalgic

At the beginning of this millennium I’d often pick up a bottle from Lea and Sandeman on the way home from work, about £20. Other pleasures involved Bachelet Charmes at £30 or an off vintage of Clos Des Epeneaux(in those days they were the ones to drink) at £20 again. It really wasn’t long ago, and while the wines are better now they are a major investment rather than an affordable treat.

How far is Robert Chevillon’s Le Chaignots from M-G in terms of quality? While recent vintages have crept up in price too, older ones are available for half the price of M-G.

Completely different styles of wine. Irrelevant comparison.

I find MG to be a far superior producer in general across the board, and I find the MG Chaignot specifically to be a far superior wine than the Chevillon version.
Admittedly I’ve not had huge verticals of both wines, but i have had a few of each, and they’re rather different in style, and frankly not quite in the same league.