We met Christine, and then Gilbert appeared along with daughter who we were told is learning English at school. I'd better watch what I write in that case... except it's all good. I also found out the use of the giant glass spotted in Athenaeum the previous day - Gilbert used one during the tasting and poured some wine from the tank or barrel into it to start with, then used a pipette to transfer some to each tasting glass. This was a very educational trip!
We tasted 15 wines from 2013 altogether so I shan't describe them all, but for me, the highlights at the different levels were:
Bourgogne Rouge - very charming nose, elegant, still a bit tingly (it had just been sulphured, I believe), a baby Chambolle.
Bourgogne Rose - this was exceptionally pale, and very aromatic with good weight and length. It will be lovely in the summer and I found myself thinking my mother would like it.
Chambolle-Musigny Clos Village - we had this after the village Chambolle, which I liked a lot, but this had more of everything, a more intense nose, it was more silky, and it felt like a premier cru to me. Apparently it's now a monopole.
Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru les Feusselottes - rude words were used in my notes, in a positive way! It was lovely, with good concentration, pure fruit, nice weight, and complexity. A winner.
Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru les Charmes - I have written "best yet!" and quite honestly I didn't want to spit it out. Gilbert said it was very rich, and it had a lovely weight and texture and lots of appealing fruit. Delicious.
Echezeaux grand cru - this is the pinnacle of the pyramid at this domaine and two barrels were made in 2013 and 2014 also. It was a great, complex wine and had great length. Come back in ten years...
After this, we went back upstairs to the tasting room where we tasted some other bits and pieces in bottle. The Hautes Cotes de Nuits 2012 made me very happy with its raspberry compote nose, and the Gevrey-Chambertin 2012 was also very much my kind of thing, a very elegant style of Gevrey with richness and depth.
All in all, it was a wonderful, comprehensive tasting, a veritable Chambolle-Musigny masterclass. For me, the wines of this domaine are serious, complex and refined. It's classy stuff.
In the spirit of full disclosure, Gilbert spotted me taking a surreptitious photo of a shelf of bottles of vieux marc de bourgogne and without any prompting gave me a bottle, with the words "Amatrice du Marc". This was very generous! I love this marc and it transports me back to happy days in Burgundy. Merci Gilbert!
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