Linden's Article: The Fine Wine Experience Single Vineyard Dinner Series - Musigny

Musigny is a grand cru vineyard mid-upper slope in the Cote de Nuits. It lies at the southern end of Chambolle, just above the Clos Vougeot.

It is the jewel, the flag-bearer, the advertisement for the village of Chambolle-Musigny.

Its 10 hectares produce mostly red, but, somewhat eccentrically, there is half a hectare of chardonnay which Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé make. It is entitled to Musigny Grand Cru status also, though the domaine replanted it, and have elected to demote the wine to Bourgogne appellation.

De Vogüé own and make over 70 percent of all Musigny, which is why you often see it, and seldom ever see anyone else’s (save Mugnier’s perhaps). To put this in context, the whole production of this grand cru vineyard averages only 3,000 or so cases per year. That’s about the same as a typical Pomerol chateau – but here we are talking about the total of all wines labeled Musigny.

So, when we look at the volumes from the other producers, the quantities become miniscule. When we get to that of Domaine Joseph Faiveley, their holding is not much larger than a tennis court, and doesn’t quite fill one barrel! (The Hong Kong allocation for the current release was…one bottle! The production total: 150 bottles!)

So, in descending order of production represented in this evening’s event: 7.14ha Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé,
1.14ha Domaine J-F Mugnier,
0.77ha Domaine Jacques Prieur, 0.67ha Domaine Joseph Drouhin, 0.27ha Domaine Leroy,
0.21ha Domaine de la Vougeraie, 0.17ha Domaine Louis Jadot, 0.11ha Domaine Drouhin-Laroze, 0.10ha Domaine George Roumier, 0.03ha Domaine Joseph Faiveley.

But it was wonderful that we have this diversity, so we can see how different minds interpret the terroir. When I think of Musigny I think of power cloaked in velvet, of perfume, elegance, beauty, and seduction.

Going into the tasting and dinner, I wondered how much this would hold true – the “iron fist in a velvet glove” as it has become clichéd to say.

The first thing I noticed though was the very high standard. This came across loud and clear during the tasting of three 2006s and three 2007s. It perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise – this is grand cru after all. But a similar tasting of – say – Clos Vougeot or Echezeaux, might not yield such a uniformly high standard. It left me with the impression that Musigny can be bought with confidence in the appellation: a very rare thing.

What makes it extraordinary tasting through Musigny from 11 growers is the illusion that gives that this 10-point-something hectare grand cru has real diversity of interpreters of this great terroir. The reality is that Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue dominates – with some 70 percent of the entire cru, including all of the lieu dit ‘Les Petits Musigny,’ as well as about half of the lieu dit ‘Les Musigny.’ The other 10 growers have little slivers of ‘Les Musigny,’ except for Domaine de la Vougeraie, which has as its monopole, the lieu dit of ‘La Combe d’Orveau’ (at least that portion with Musigny Grand Cru appellation status).

Working down the fractions of a hectare coveted by each domaine, it becomes somewhat farcical at the level of Domaine G. Roumier with just a tenth of hectare (producing some 30 cases a year), and Domaine J. Faiveley who have some 300m2 of it (a bit more than a tennis court’s worth) making some 150 bottles a year. That sensation of rarity is only accentuated by the fact that these are two of the best examples of Musigny money (and access!) can buy.

We began our evening with a tasting of six wines representing six domaines: three ‘06s and three ‘07s. I was just delighted to see that while styles varied, Musigny came through, and the quality was really very high across the board. It shouldn’t come as a surprise – it’s the jewel in the crown of each estate that has some – but I can’t think of another major grand cru where the base standard is so high.

2006 Domaine Jacques Prieur Musigny

Fine clear fresh ruby – lovely colour; fragrant, this is really scented, quite floral with red fruits. The oak is quite prominent in the aromatics too however – needs time to meld in and become less obtrusive; lovely texture on the palate, this is gentle, svelte, harmonious, it is youthful but open and aromatic, red fruits and perfume. A very good line and length, well defined with sapid fine tannins pulling in the finish. The oak component feels better integrated on the palate than on the nose right now, which is reassuring for its future. This is very fine, elegant in style, with both ripe fruit and good tension. It’s lovely if not ‘exciting’ per se.

2006 Domaine Joseph Drouhin Musigny

Bright, pale – lighter than the Prieur; a low key nose that needs some coaxing, but then there is lovely crystalline red fruit, a touch of earth and mineral, there is quite some detail on the nose, and it is all in very sharp precise focus. Still so youthful. Real fragrance, but it is oh so subtle, you have to go in quietly and tune in. On the palate this is silky textured right the way through the palate, with a little more grip in the finish. This has very attractive brightness with a fine cut of acidity and fine-textured, firm but well-covered supple tannin. This has a very good future in front of it.

2006 Domaine de la Vougeraie Musigny

Fine clear red-ruby, light; lovely floral notes combined with somewhat obtrusively toasty oak elements – this comes across as a bit obvious in that regard; fine, very silky texture, very fine, with pure fruit expression, floral scented fruit. It is supple, slinky and sexy in fruit expression and texture. The oak does feature here, but it dovetails in more convincingly on the palate than the nose, so perhaps this will integrate well. Time will tell. This is a detailed and refined Musigny, but it is perhaps wearing a tad too much make-up.

2007 Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Musigny

Bright clear fresh appearance – still a flush of pink tone; very pretty on the nose, a floral expression of Musigny – candied violets, roses, and raspberries; lovely fruit on the palate, quite some concentration, this is fleshy, very seductive fruit, melting finish. This has a caressing texture and beautiful fragrance. This is so lovely to drink now – really it is! But there is more to come. Order this one if you see it on a restaurant list in Burgundy where it will be a (relative) bargain. A natural expression, so effortless.

2007 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny

Fine fresh appearance, bright ruby; much more savouriness in the expression compared to the four already tasted, there is a bit of reduction here – it needs considerable aeration to drink young, otherwise cellar it. Underneath this slightly pongy mask is some pretty exciting fruit – more toward the black fruit and spice spectrum; concentrated on the palate, a real feeling of substance and decadence – all of course within the context of Musigny refinement! Plush-textured with a candied expression to the fruit, liquorious and melting with just a bit of alcohol kicking up at the end. The tannins are totally emulsified into the sapid but creamy soft finish. It remains pure and fine. Far more decadent in expression – delicious, but it is more of a gourmand Musigny for earlier enjoyment, and so this wouldn’t be my choice for cellaring from Mugnier’s stunning selection of recent Musigny vintages.

2007 Domaine Louis Jadot Musigny

Bright clear ruby, fine hue; pure and floral on the nose, plus red fruit – this is very pure in expression, crystalline – just lovely. Wow! This is sublime! The palate shows exceptional purity and clarity of expression, exquisite red fruit and floral flavours and nothing extraneous. Very airy in mouthfeel, yet with clear-cut definition and just the right intensity. There are layers here – such dimension to this. I am in awe of its beauty. And in ’07! Wow! This must be one of the wines of the vintage, surely. Exceptional by any standard. 

Well, that’s how I saw it. The fifteen of us around the table cast our votes for our favourite Musigny from the tasting above:
Mugnier – six votes,
Drouhin – four votes, Jadot – three votes, Prieur – one vote (one abstention).

While we discussed and deliberated on the six young Musigny just tasted, we enjoyed a pre-dinner glass of a wonderful Musigny eccentricity – Musigny Blanc! To think that here in the Côte de Nuits in a grand cru vineyard there is chardonnay – 0.55ha of it, as part of the de Vogüé estate. It was labeled as Musigny until about the ’93, and since then it has been labeled Bourgogne due to replanting (a philosophy echoed at de Vogüé by their demotion of red Musigny from vines less than 25 years of age into their Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru label).

(At the end of the dinner the fifteen participants were asked to cast two equal votes for their two favourite wines from the dinner selection. The results are noted in italics below.)

1985 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Blanc

Bright gold, healthy mature appearance; lovely nose – ripe, with toasty maturity, mineral and stony. Very grand white Burgundy. Bright and mineral on the palate, quite powerful and intense, carried along by really great ripe acidity. Very persistent and long. There is a gentle oxidative vignette to the expression, while the fruit remains vibrant and fresh. This has matured very well. Delicious. One vote for best wine with dinner.

Then, with dinner, we began with a flight of three that all impressed with quite different expressions of the terroir.

2001 Domaine J. Faiveley Musigny

More depth of colour than we saw from the tasting flight, still quite youthful, garnet rim; a powerful brooding nose, dark berry-cherry, some oak, somewhat tannic, but with very expressive flavours – dark berry fruits and a wild character. Notes of bark. There is real layering here. Wow! This is very impressive indeed. It needs quite a bit more ageing to show its full potential. One vote for best wine with dinner.

1999 Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny

Fine, mid-depth of colour, clear; gorgeous nose, very scented with real intensity of very perfumed sour cherry fruit; sweet, refined and silky on the palate, still so obviously youthful in that ’99 way, but expressive. This has a seductive feel and style. Combines lightness, airiness and power. Truly exquisite! Two votes for best wine with dinner.

1989 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny

Quite mature but healthy garnet colour; sweet and earthy nose, candied cherry and raspberry fruit, a touch of marzipan, offset nicely by savoury earthy notes, and spice; really refined on the palate, elegant, lovely red fruit, earth and a touch of truffle. Real bell-like clarity. Sweet tobacco and cherry scented finish. Shows elegance and restraint. Just beginning to dry a little on the finish. Fully evolved and ready but with good vitality and freshness still. This showed above expectation.

1973 Maison Faiveley Musigny

Very bright and clear for age, mature tone garnet; lovely fragrance, meaty, with a little volatile acidity providing lift, a fine nose with notes of earth and truffle; sweet, supple, and jewel like on the palate, lovely mature expression of fruit, roast meat juices and truffle. Fine acidity and tannin. Delicious. 

1972 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny

Fine bright garnet – still holding colour well for age; fine savoury leather and meat nose, cool and savoury; savoury sweet and sapid with earth and mineral notes. Body and presence here, it is firmer than some of the other older examples, but there is also just a whiff of TCA diminishing the fruit and scent. Marginal in that regard and I had finished my glass before I decided whether it was really corked or not.

1966 Maison Leroy Musigny

So bright yet quite faded in colour, quite tawny-bronze; a really exciting nose that just leaps out of the glass to entice and excite. A very sweet pinot nose, leafy, perfumed, magic; sweet and super silky on the palate, there’s real old Musigny sweetness and supreme elegance with an extraordinary peacock’s tail finish which left me enthralled long after the last sip was finished. Astonishingly good. Ten votes for best wine with dinner. (Rank = First)

1978 Domaine Drouhin Musigny

Bright mature garnet; stunning aromatics – extremely fine and vibrant, this is just jaw droppingly stunning. In fact, we all stood up and toasted the wine! Crystaline, sapid, wild – yes, a real wildness to the character to this – bark and game, and truffle. Candied cherry in the fruit. Textually it is lightness and airiness, while the scent lingers on and on. Layered waves of flavor and scent. Stunning. Seven votes for best wine with dinner. (Rank = Second)

1962 Domaine Drouhin Musigny

Might have impressed like the ’78, but this was a touch dull and hazy in comparison. Light garnet. After the timeless suspended animation of the ’78, this felt more terrestrial and aged. A muted but still fragrant nose. A touch of caramel. Bright, juicy, fairly plush – more concentration here than the ’78, a little more acidity and tannin too. But it is a little muted. Very good, but in a different order than the ’78 tonight. Five votes for best wine with dinner. (Rank = Third)

1991 Domaine Leroy Musigny

Fairly deep in colour, ruby-garnet; sweet, dark cherry fragrant nose with a touch of very fine dark chocolate on the nose; rich, layered with intense fruit, reserved and compact in expression, packed with fruit, fine bright acidity, this is polished in style and shows a certain glossiness. It’s deeply impressive in its very fine fruit and wondrous concentration, while not feeling heavy. But it is rather solid and marked – I felt – more by the Leroy style, than Musigny per se. Delicious, high quality, but surprisingly ordinary.

1990 Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Musigny

Mid-deep in colour, clear and bright; mature, sweet nose, mocha/choc-scented dark cherries; sweet, concentrated and fine on the palate, quite full-bodied, this had more in common with the Roumier ’90 this evening than I expected. Drinking very well, fully ready. Delicious. One vote for best wine with dinner.

1990 Domaine G. Roumier Musigny

Clear deep garnet; wow! Spices here on the nose, this is wild and exotic with notes of dark chocolate, earth and bark; intense on the palate, concentrated and still with a prominent tannic frame, this has a concentrated small berry feel, layered and very fragrant. It reminded me a little of Quintarelli’s amazing Amarones of similar age aromatically, while the firm but packed with flavor grip of the tannins reminded me of 1940s top Médoc! There is such intensity here with fruit and glycerin filling the palate. Gorgeous wine – still needs time. Very special. Three votes for best wine with dinner.

The extraordinary power in examples like the Roumier ’90, Faiveley ’01, and Leroy ’91 was in each case aligned to beautiful fruit and scent, and so it would seem that the “iron fist in a velvet glove” holds – at least in so far as no Musigny we tasted delivered power without beauty or seduction. But in most cases the impression is much more “velvet glove” than “iron fist.” So many of these wines have that ethereal airy quality that delivers complex and lingering nose and mouth-filling scent, without that liquid heaviness of excess glycerin, alcohol, oak, or tannin. We can put a lot of this down to terroir, but it is also fair to remember than exceptional vineyard practice and winemaking play a key role. The tasting of ‘06s and ‘07s demonstrated that the vineyard’s quality is being delivered to a very high standard.

Linden Wilkie is a wine merchant in Hong Kong and owner of The Fine Wine Experience.