Brief notes form one of my Burgundy lunch groups “Musigny” (and the wines of Chambolle Musigny) themed lunch the other day….Nothing was blind, with only the younger
3 wines decanted. Most wines showed a similar medium-dark cherry and berry finish, and were mostly well structured, with the younger (Vogue in particular) wines still drinkable
but as a long way off peaking. A pretty solid and even (if somewhat unspectacular) group of wines, apart really from the 2008 De Vogue Musigny, which was superb.
1995 De Venoge Louis XV:
Nice aperitif style. Seemed more chardonnay dominant but is a blend. Crisp, with some starting to develop chardonnay characters, but seemed a touch one dimensional on the finish.
90pts.
2002 Ramonet Beinvenues-Batard Montrachet:
Felt like a white, so I also brought this along. Lovely wine. Balanced, long and fine on the palate. White flowers, typical Ramonet spice and honey. Good balanced palate with power
and finesse, nice complexity on the finish. In a nice place now, but will still improve for a few years. Close to WOTD.
93/4pts.
2000 De Vogue Musigny:
I also brought this along, knowing it is in a good place now as far as drink-ability goes. Corked….damn. The wine though seemed silky with some attractive open sweet fruit. Noticing we
had an ’08 De Vogue Amoureuses in the lineup, organized to then get an ’08 Musigny as well to put alongside it, which proved to be a good idea……
N/R.
2008 De Vogue Les Amoureuses:
The prettiest nose of all the wines. Attractive pretty pure fruit on the plate also, a bit redder and more minerally than the other wines. Approachable now. Good acid, but fell
away a bit on the back palate, especially after a while. Generally outclassed as expected by the Musignys, but still a nice wine (not worth the $$$ though…).
91+pts.
2008 De Vogue Musigny:
Very tight upon opening. Bright wine, with a ton of acid to back up it’s deepset pure fruit. Purple, with pure darker red and black fruits and a touch of spice. Big, complex structure and
quite powerful, very unresolved at present. Opened up a few hours later and was easily the best wine here. Still typically Vogue Musigny like, quite silky palate but as has been mentioned,
you can see this is also heading in a slightly different direction. Will be interesting to see where this goes over it’s long journey, but a very good wine. WOTD.
94++pts.
2007 De Vogue Musigny:
This suffered a bit being served next to the ’08. Quite accessible now, attractive black and red sweet and somewhat ripe fruit, with a touch of spice and earth. Nowhere near as pure fruited
though as the lovely ’08. A little softer and looser also in structure, and again without the verve of the ’08. A good drink, but not likely to ever be a really top level wine (a bit like most ‘07’s
then I guess….), and just a bit one dimensional for mine overall. Good drinking now though, and will be over the medium term.
92pts.
1997 Leroy Misigny:
Looked the best of this pair on opening. Typical Leroy slightly murky look, with an attractive expressive nose. Lovely core of sweet dark mature fruit, which then buried itself for a while, only to
reappear again a few hours later after opening. Structured and very long, with a touch of greatness about it that might suggest it still needs much more time yet. If I had bottles of this, I’d
probably hold for another 5-10 years at least.
92+pts.
1997 De Vogue Musigny:
Initially very muted, with earthy, ripe darker fruits and not really showing much else at all. Complex and big structured wine, this began showing it’s best after a few hours (and kept improving in
the glass), and in the end had opened up to reveal more of it’s (somewhat buxom) charms. Drinking quite well now, (with a serious decant), but I suspect will be better in 5-10 more years or more.
93pts.
1988 De Vogue Musigny:
Funky, some VA lift, a bit oxidized looking, and cloudy with sediment on opening. Sweet fruit underneath, but not an entirely happy bottle.
N/R.
2008 Bouchard Bonnes Mares:
Riper, pure and more red fruited than previous wines. I liked this quite a bit. Juicy acid finish, with pure sweet fruits, and actually quite nice drinking now. The fruit could have perhaps could have
used a touch more weight? A good wine though, if just a little bit generic.
92+pts.
1999 Chanson Bonnes Mares:
Probably more a product of the vintage than the maker….Ok wine, nice fruit and drinking well now, but lacking in complexity, pretty soft and quite forward.
90pts.
1996 De Vogue Bonnes Mares:
A Little bit funky on opening. Dark, deep, and really without too much going on. Big wine, impenetrably black fruit, but lacking in any excitement at all. Not sure where this is going, if anywhere at
all….another somewhat odd ’96 in that you can’t really tell where this is going…
90?pts.
1972 Jadot Musigny:
An old curio, but the bottle was in very nice condition. Nearly past it, still, opened up ok, with old leather, honey and decayed forest floor “Now that’s the essence of Burgundy” someone said.
Hmmmm. Just hanging in there, this then went downhill after about 20 minutes, but was an interesting wine to try nevertheless. Others liked it a bit more than me.
N/R.
Overall a very nice lunch, and the food was well considered for the wines.
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