2011 Chambolle Musigny

The 2011 Chambolle-Musigny is a pretty, accessible wine, but today I get the impression the 2011 may be headed for a period of dormancy. The relaxed, easygoing personality of the vintage is in evidence, but the fruit isn't as generous or resonant as it was a years ago. I have seen the villages blossom with few years of bottle age, though, so I would give the 2011 time in bottle.

The 2011 Chambolle-Musigny Village has a fragrant, voluminous bouquet with plush red cherries intermingling with black currant and a touch of cassis. The palate is sweet on the entry with pure black cherry and cassis fruit. The tannins are fine and underpin a linear Chambolle-Musigny: quite conservative in style with sappy black fruit defining the finish. Drink now-2018. ”April was the hottest for sixty years,” winemaker Francois Millet explained apropos the 2012 vintage. “It sounds strange, but we were hoping for a cool summer to delay the cycle and preserve the freshness. We could have picked on mid-August if the summer had been average. In the end, the vintage was interesting as the minerality is just the right amount. It is a four o’clock vintage?you can just sit there and enjoy it.” Francois summed up the wines himself. To be frank, I still am trying to fathom the style of de Vogue, which I sometimes feel are almost too premeditated, as if so much thought has been expended upon them that they forget the one fundamental?to elicit enjoyment. So while I appreciated the purity of these 2011s, I asked myself whether they would be the same ones that I would choose off the list at what would ineluctably be an expensive dinner. Importer: Becky Wasserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70

Deep crimson – deeper than most. Real savour on the nose. On the palate still rather simple though there is a lot of matière here. Wait! (JR)