TNs: Drouhin Musigny, Maison Ilan, Bertheau, Fourrier, etc

We had a nice get together with a couple local families and a great visit with Ray Walker of Maisan Ilan.

2001 Gaunoux Beaune – This was shut down as tight as can be when first opened. A few hours of decanting and some slow ox afterwards finally coaxes it to life. It has mature and complex aromatics of fall leaves, tea and fried flower incense. Its very light but has a nice level of fruity cherry sweetness. Earlier in the night the finish had a bit more generosity but it’s a bit tart now.

2008 Bruno Clavelier Vosne Romanee Aux Brulees 1er – The aromatics at this point have elements of cooking herbs (stems?) and intense spice attributes but earlier in the night there was some beautiful red fruit. The medium weight flavors are fresh and succulent with luminous and pure red and dark berry and floral notes. The finish is energetic with complexity derived from the intense spice. There is some oak-like sweetness that lingers. A first time for me with this producer and Im very impressed. Good power without weight.

2006 Bertheau Combolle Musigny 1er – This was pretty tight at first and took a long time to come around. The aromatics have a savory element with spice and plum attributes. The medium+ weight dark fruit flavors are deep, rich and fairly powerful but there is still an overall sense of lightness to it. Its racy and tart with a nice mineral component. The finish has energetic fruit and some savory elements.

2010 Maison Ilan Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru (barrel sample) – The intense aromas have elements of dark fruit, sweet floral incense, minerals and a complex savory* element . It has sneaky yet powerful palate-staining succulent red and dark fruit flavors. A real power-without-weight type wine. Its very well balanced with a roundness and even a gentleness to it. The finish is impressive with sweet fruit flavors lingering for a long time. My type of wine. It improved significantly with air.

*likely a short term effect of lees contact as it dissipates fairly quickly

2007 Mugneret-Gibourg Bourgogne – No one paid much attention to this presumably because of its appellation but this was quite nice. It has aromas of pine, spice and some dark fruit. The dark fruit flavors are surprisingly rich and vibrant and it has a vosne-like quality to it. It lacks some punch to the finish but that is just a minor quibble.

2009 Maison Ilan Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru (half bottle) – [Note that this didn’t have a great tavel history and Ray says it tastes a lot different in Burgundy] Like the 2010 the aromas are quite intense with notes of roast meat and some spice. The flavors are sweet, powerful and intense with a roast coffee note on the finish. I like the 2010 better but this might be my favorite 2009 so far. I did not detect the confected powdered sugar-like notes that I notice with most 2009s.

2002 Fourrier MSD Clos Salon – Here the medium intense aromas are fully tertiary with nice complexity and notes of fall leaves, pine sap and gilled beef. The medium weight dark fruit flavors are surprisingly rich with a tangy finish that is a bit short when compared to some of the higher appellation wines.

2007 Drouhin Musigny Grand Cru – Man there is just something about Musigny. The aromas were just so intense, beautiful and complex it quite literally brought a tear to my eye. Thankfully nobody noticed. This has just so much floral goodness. The flavors didn’t quite match the wonderfulness and the aromas but they were still deliciously rich yet weightless, nuanced and sophisticated. We drained this too quickly and likely didn’t give it enough time to fully open. Clearly this is infanticide but I have a soft spot in my heart for young Drouhin Musigny.

2002 Jadot Beaune Theurons 1er For me, the aromas and flavors were a perfect mix of age-derived autumnal elements and dark rich fruit. The concentration and richness were quite impressive. For my subjective tastes Beaune can be very underrated. Its worth noting the Ray thought he may have noticed some TCA on this but anything there was under my threshold.

Up early?
Or is this party still raging? [cheers.gif]
Nice lineup and notes.
Thanks for sharing.
Had a lovely 2000 Jadot Teurons last year. Over delivered.
What vintage on yours? Cheers…

Another nice job here with some very good wines.
I hope Ray is enjoying his visit too.
I have that 2007 Drouhin Musigny in quantity so I am very happy to get a note on it.
Thanks Berry.

Great notes as always, Berry.

Berry,

When I spoke with Ray a few days ago he mentioned he would be visiting with you, so I’ve been watching for you to post some notes! Nice lineup, and nice notes. Looks like a couple of cases of infanticide, but nice to see they were tasty.
[cheers.gif]

You would be disapointed if you saw the intensity of our raging.

Sorry, it was the 2002.

Thank you. Well done on the purchase. I would heartily recommend opening one young if you have more than 3 or so.

Thanks for these very terrific notes. Glad to have some TNs on Ray’s wines on the board. Looks good!

Cheers,
Doug

My barrel note from December says “spicy fruitcake” (I like fruitcake). This wine was showing really well that day. I will have a couple 2009s from WHWC but I am afraid that the vultures will eat up all the 2010s.

Sounds like a great event. Thanks for sharing.

I just revisted this and holy fuck! This isn’t just great now it is amazing. The concentration has intensified significantly (and it was pretty intense to start with) while still maintaining the weightlessless and sophisticated roundness. This is a serious wine. Its been about two minutes since I have taken a sip and I can still taste it lingering in my mouth.

The major caveat here obviously that Ray is my friend and I could be biased so that is worth mentioning but this really is an objectively fantastic wine. I was always worried that it would be really awkward if I didn’t like Ray’s wine but I need not have worried. Its just so pure and intense. I’m really happy for Ray. This is the real deal. Its crazy how much this has grown with air and with zero oxidized qualities at this point.

If this representative of what high end 2010s are like then I think we are in for a treat.

Nice bracket there Berry, thanks for the notes.
Best Regards
Jeremy

Thanks Berry, great notes. I had a similar Musigny experience in the weekend. A bottle that just showed brilliantly, a 96 de Vogue Musigny. I shared a drop with a wine merchant from Melbourne, Philip Rich from Prince Wines, who was equally moved and then looked at the bottle and highlighted to me it was in the <100 first bottled, 70 something I think. I forgot to ask why this should have made any difference? Cheers Mike

Did it show alot of oak?

Berry, No, it was the best de Vogue I have ever had. The last time I had this, three or so years ago it was pretty disjointed with the Redon oak showing through. This was at a perfect place, possibly just the bottle but it was pure Musigny, reserved and velvety with outstanding complexity and length, the iron fist. Incredibly youthful but I know compared to bottles I have had over the years that it has come along way. Thibault Liger Belair had a taste, and his comment was its youth. I have never really liked de Vogue but really had to take my words back on this bottle alone! I double decanted about 6 hours before, no sediment whatsoever which was interesting.

BTW this was at the Otago Pinot Noir Celebration a great event, the 2010’s out of Otago looking great, I prefer them a little to the 09’s also a great vintage. This area is improving leaps and bounds, the producer variance not so obvious with some lovely fruit driven wines coming through many wineries. Cheers Mike

Thanks Mike

Nice tasting, Berry; thanks for putting out notes.

Nice notes.

It’s been said before, but when it’s on, Musigny is no doubt, some of the best wine dirt in the world.