Sunday, May 27, 2007

de Vogüé Musigny Vertical

Allen Meadows called Musigny, "one of the two of three most gifted pieces of dirt in Burgundy".
Anthony Hanson said, "subtle nobility".
Clive Coates noted, "a great Musigny is heaven in a glass".
Matt Kramer, "the most convincing wine of Burgundy".
Remington Norman wrote, "the epitome of the finesse of which Burgundy is capable".

In Burgundy, Pinot Noir grown on clay soils gives more weight and body, as opposed to those from the lighter soils of more limestone, rock, which offers more finesse and aroma complexity. The Bajocian rich Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges (most prime vineyards) display richness and structured, where else, the Bathonian dominant of Vosne-Romanee, Volnay and especially Chambolle Musigny, is all about perfume and finesse! As what Matt Kramer has wrote, Romanée-Conti or La Tâche of Vosne-Romanée is known for their dramatic, opiatic spice qualities and Allen Meadows' would unapologetically called Volnay as among the purest, most elegant wine that build on the base of finesse and minerality. But, for Musigny, it seem to combine the very best of both. It has the seductive red fruit of Vosne-Romanée but without the forcefulness spice; it shares the same finesse and minerality of Volnay, but is more substantial in power and richness. The sweetness found in Musigny is unlike grand crus of Vosne-Romanée, which they literary knock you on your face. It is more subtle, ethereal and builds slowly, eventually it leaves your palate with the sweet impression that lingers in the memory for days. Equally can be said about the richness found in Musigny. Whether is it due to its underlying body, or the highly pitched personality, it comes across as more subtly and finely balance. A supreme sense of richness without weight.

One talk about Musigny, is unavoidably, Domaine Comte de Vogüé will come immediately in mind. The ancestors of the family has been occupying the 66.5% of the entire Musigny vineyard since 1766. The lieu-dit of Les Petits Musigny is a monopole of the family. To many fanatics of burgundy, Musigny literally means, de Vogüé!

On the night of February 4th, 2007. I have co-organized a charity dinner featuring six vintages of de Vogüé Musigny. We also have the privilege of having the estate manager, Jean-Luc Pépin as our guest of speaker for that evening. The following are highlights of my tasting note.

2003 de Vogüé Bourgogne Blanc (previously Musigny Blanc)
According to Jean-Luc, the last Musigny Blanc was produced in 1992. Since then, due to the previous old vines being replanted with younger vines, and winemaker François Millet felt that, the current white did not live up to the grand cru status and decided to declassified all to Bourgogne Blanc. However, having tasted this chardonnay again after 4-6 months. I found them developing nicely. The early Chablis-like austerity has gave way to a more oily, fat, glycerin-coated palate. Still, the wine is pure and crisp at start, with attractive ginger, coconut-toasty aroma. It has however turned more fleshy, with some aging honey-caramel sweetness emerged with air. Very little evident of acidity, however, quite viscous.

2000 Musigny Vieilles Vignes
Beautiful crushed berries aroma, that is both pure and fresh. The nose could easily be mistaken for being a Vosne-Romanée due to its spicy qualities. This wine does not have the usual depth and scale, but has the Musigny hallmark of delicacy and elegance. It was nonetheless sexy and gorgeous to drink, and it went down my gullet effortlessly. 2000 vintage is characterized by the abundant crop that can potentially dilute the fruit quality.

1998 Musigny Vieilles Vignes
Initially more underbrush, tarry, stalky element, with aeration, turned more pristine. Its clearly more massive and has more impressive density. The fruit is also leaning towards more intense black fruit, with obvious viscosity and spirit-like palate. However, there is good balance in this wine, as well as the sap showing up at the end. According to Jean-Luc, the key to success in 1998 is grape sorting. There were uneven grapes ripeness within a cluster of grape.

2001 Musigny Vieilles Vignes
This vintage is everyone's favorite. It has the captivated ripe, candied fruit character, the thickness and lace of fruit that is so irresistible. Layer-after-layers and cool, seamless, gorgeous, palate-caressing sweet, blackberries fruit that keeps hitting every sweet spot of your palate. Amazingly, your palate is not fatigue, the balance is amazing, and despite the wine generosity, there is this sense of precision that kept the wine well together. I remember François Millet considering the 2005 vintage to be a wine that combines the warm and cold effects (concentration of sweetness, with precision and energy), which he describes his 2005 reds as - vintage of sorbet! I think, he would agree with me, his 2001 is equally reminded of those qualities.

1991 Musigny Vieilles Vignes

The bottle tasted that night was clearly less fresh and somehow tired. Very tarry nose, with unclean meat-stock, smoke element. The palate also shows a sense of rusticity, more pliant, and fruit has more oxidized influenced of plum rather than berries. It was however rich, and quite massive. There are some aged game quality and noticeable acidity that gives the palate some chewy feel. The finish is however dry, which was clearly coming from dehydrated grape, or what would be said, a taste of hail caused by damaged grapes (goût de grêle, or goût de sec)?

1999 Musigny Vieilles Vignes
This wine clearly has a lot of reserved! Dark black and raspberries, but tangy and transparence. Clearly larger scale than all the previous Musigny. The huge intensity and power were somehow trapped at this point, but one should not have any trouble to spot the potential. The current sounding acidity has give the wine detailed personality, and so does the unmistakable Chambolle-mineral quality. Here, we are not talking about Orlando Bloom, more promising than happening. 99 is more like Colin Farrell, a putative star who has yet to produce a major hit. Only time will reinstate it glory.

1996 Musigny Vieilles Vignes
This clearly is more linear, details and edgy. The density and potential of this wine is buried by the formidable frame, making this wine more in common with the late-show grand crus from Morey-St.-Denis. This is backward, larger-than-usual scale Musigny. However, the wine is both very fine and elegant. Slightly more four-square, chewy than usual, but the mix of red and black berries fruit indicates that, there is no sign of decline and still remained fresh and vibrant at this age. This is a serious Musigny that will age for a long time.

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