1996 Chambolle Musigny

This ruby-colored wine displays candied blueberries and violets on the nose and a bright, crisp, refreshing, and medium-bodied character with red and black cherry flavors intermingled with stones and traces of oak. This vibrant wine should be consumed over the next 3 years. Ghislaine Barthod was "charmed by this vintage, it has purity of fruit, raspberries mostly, and elegance." She informed me that she had dropped grapes a month or so before the harvest to reduce yields to 42 hectoliters/hectare. Barthod has enlarged her formerly-cramped cellar, and installed an elevator to assist her in making her delicious Chambolles. Since her wines are all produced with the same techniques, including 25% new oak, tasting at this domaine represents a lesson in this village's terroirs. Importer: Neal Rosenthal, Select Vineyards, Shekomeko, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990.