M&M (MONTRACHET AND MUSIGNY) DINNER - Nicolas Restaurant, Teck Lim Street, Singapore (12/1/2017)
I have always thought that the two great vineyards of Montrachet and Musigny share a common soul. Both are of course at the apex of Burgundy and indeed, are amongst the most fabled wines in the world. Beyond that though, when the great whites of Montrachet and the equally famous reds of Musigny are at their best, they share qualities of power and depth wed to effortless elegance and transperancy. Both also produce wines that are amongst the most purest and most integrated in Burgundy. Indeed, one could well describe a Musigny as the Montrachet of Chambolle, with its deep blue fruited tones and violet flowers always leaning, to me, closer to a great Bonnes Mares in its mouthfilling depth than a slinky Les Amoureuses.
We did not have a huge line-up on the day, but a pair of Le Montrachet (from the Chassagne-side of the vineyard) and a trio of beautiful Musignies from two great producers was a wonderfully focused peek at the terroirs, and a real treat for the six of us on a Thursday evening.
MONTY
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1989 Remoissenet Père et Fils Montrachet Le Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
Impressive, if not quite as enjoyable as the 1999 Fontaine-Gagnard Monty that was paired alongside. This started out smelling almost like a new world wine, with sweet popcorn oak and yellow fruited aromas galore. With time though, more typical Cote de Beaune aromas of butter, cream and mushrooms, even a touch of smoky, flinty minerality starting floating out as well. Nice enough, but I must say this smelt like something a good decade younger - refilled perhaps. It was very strong on the palate though, with deep, powerful flavours of sweet yellow fruit, almost dried mango-like at points, laced with a deep stream of minerality beneath. The slight new worldly ripeness was there, but it was nicely matched by a great sense of structure and a nice balance. A very muscular wine, but certainly not inelegant. On the midpalate, notes of cream and chalk and some stone fruited tones emerged to take their place amongst the ripe fruit. The finish was long and powerful and persistent as one would expect from a Montrachet, but it just seemed to lack a touch of cut and precision as the wine warmed up. Otherwise, this was quite impressive. A true Montrachet. (93 pts.) -
1999 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
A lovely, lovely wine. It had a beautiful nose that could only have come from a great white Burgundy. There were notes of cream, sweet ripe apples, flinty mineral, and then just a touch of earth and a hint of hard cheeses, all these perfectly integrated into a lovely seamless bouquet. On the palate, I felt this was a touch lean for a 1999 Montrachet, guessing it as a Criots-Batard instead. Otherwise though, it was very, very nice indeed. Like the nose, it was perfectly integrated into a perfect whole, with pure notes of apples and cream and mineral and gentle spice, all coming together in a beautifully elegant, effortless package. I loved the finish too - long, seamless and powerful, yet completely effortless, with a lovely unfolding of cream and white fruit laced with stony mineral shades. An absolutely beautiful wine, drinking wonderfully at the moment. (95 pts.)
MOOSE
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1996 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Second time I have had this in a few weeks, and while this was again superb, one could really tell how much the earlier bottle benefitted from having been opened for a longer period before service. This was probably the most complete wine amongst the trio of Musigny tonight, but it was also the most backward. The nose was really attractive, but it was rather tighter than its brethren’s, with deeper-set wafts of fragrant spice swirling around stoned notes of dried earth, blue fruit and violet petals. It was on the palate that the wine really showed it chops though. Full, juicy, deep, yet absolutely pure and true, this filled the mouth with beautiful flavours of gummy blue fruit seasoned with dashes of spice and drifts of violets. Great depth, understated power, but above all, a beautiful transparent feel, all this leading into a long, deep, juicy finish, with blueberry fruit lined with a lovely touch of minerality. It probably still needs a good 5-6 more years, but this was a truly lovely wine. (95 pts.) -
1998 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
What a lovely wine. It had some nose, with layer after wafting layer of blueberry cream and dark violets, gentle earth and fragrant spice aromas - just mindblowingly attractive. It was absolutely lovely on the palate too, both powerful and elegant at the same time as a great Musigny should be, with a wonderfully integrated beam of pure flavour pulling through the mouth - blueberries, earth, spice, violets, quiet minerality - all cloaked in the most velvety of tannins and lovely balancing acidity. Masculine but incredibly elegant at the same time, this had great depth yet remained wonderfully pure and transparent. Absolutely gorgeous. What a great finish too, with a lovely flow of blue fruit over a bed of dried earth and spice, with just a little kiss of 1998 bramble at the edges of the backpalate. Wonderful, wonderful stuff, and drinking quite magnificently at the moment. It may improve in the next few years, but I really see no reason to wait. Indeed, it actually seemed to shut down by the end of the night. (95 pts.) -
2000 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Musigny Grand Cru
Pure Burgundy magic. The stars truly aligned with this one: great maker, great terroir and peak maturity. It had best nose on any wine I have had in a very long time. The bouquet literally tumbled out of the glass with wonderful aromas of flowers and musk, dark berries and fragrant spice, all sensual and seductive and deeply perfumed. As wonderful as the noses were on the other two Musignies, this was on a whole different level. What a palate too. Maybe not quite as gobsmackingly good as the nose, but it was still brilliant. Completely resolved, with silky tannins and soft acidity deeply woven into an absolutely pure mouthful of blueberries, earth and more of that wonderfully fragrant spice and tea leaves, this kept unfolding gently right up to its tremendous finish. It full, deep and quietly intense, yet wonderfully pure and unfailingly elegant at the same time - everything one would imagine a great Musigny to be. By some distance the wine of the night in the midst of a truly stellar line-up. I must add that it faded a little by the end of the night, so if you have any, time to drink up! (96 pts.)
AND A BIT EXTRA
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1995 Alvaro Palacios Priorat L’Ermita - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat
A kind pour from Kevin at the next table. This was more impressive than enjoyable at the moment. At over 20 years of age, it felt like it easily needed another 20 in the bottle, especially coming as it did after a trio of beautiful Burgundies. The nose started out quite funky, with lots of animale tones showing into shades of earth and meat and soy. With time though, a deep dark fruited core started emerging alongside something vaguely floral and a touch oaky vanilla. Not sure how much I liked that nose to be honest, but it did have character at least. It was on the palate where the wine came across as really primary and almost monolithic. It was a big heavyweight bruiser, with an alcoholic depth and a firm tannin structure behind its ripe, powerful flavours of dark fruited plums and black and blueberries. Tons of depth and intensity here. It felt just a touch disjointed when first poured, but came together pretty well with time, showing a nice clarity and a surprisingly decent sense of definition, with a lean, minerally spine pulling away through the backpalate and into a long, spicy finish. A bit punishing at the moment in spite of its better qualities, but this was impressive. It would be interesting to check back on this after 10-15 years. (92 pts.) -
2014 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Charmes - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru
Very enjoyable. This was a nice end to the evening. The nose was pure Meursault, with notes of cream, butter and plump white fruit lined with a bit of chalky mineral. With time, a little drift of flowers came out as well. The palate was really very youthful, but I liked the sense of chalky minerality and glowing acidity that flowed through the veins of the wine, giving a great sense of precision and energy to otherwise ripe tones of white fruit on the attack and midpalate. Past that, a touch of lemon zest then led into a nicely dry and flinty finish. There was tons of nervous tension in there, so much so that the wine almost felt a bit disjointed with the edgy exuberance of youth. It has a lovely amount of quality and character to it though, and I would love to try it again in 8-10 years time - I have a feeling that this will be something else when it hits it peak. 92+ (92 pts.)
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