2006 Chambolle Musigny Les Feusselottes

The Mugnerets report that the orientation of their vines spared the foliage but not the fruit of their 2006 Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes from hail, a situation they consider to have been the lesser of two evils, since ripeness proceeded normally and the fruit simply required rigorous sorting. Smoked meat, cassis, and dark cherry, garnished with black pepper and lemon zest in the nose migrate to a polished creamy palate, on which however the fruit is less exuberant than in the corresponding Vosne-Romanee or Nuits-St.-Georges. Subtle suggestions of meats, mineral matter, and brown spices lend interest and this finishes with sappy cling, its abundant tannins fine-grained and well-integrated. I would plan to enjoy it after its first 2-3 years in bottle and for another half dozen. The Mugneret sisters engaged in serious triage and crop-dropping in their vineyards in early September, obviating, they claimed, the need for more than modest additional culling on sorting tables. They report having had to be vigilant during fermentations that had a natural tendency to run warm and fast, and gentle in extraction in order to preserve the naturally forward fruitiness which they said was immediately evident from the aromas when fermentation commenced, and which reminds them most of 1997, though ultimately with more structure. Like many growers, the Mugnerets were surprised at the levels of potential alcohol reached by their crop given the meteorological conditions, but they stuck by their regimen of light chaptalization in order to, they insist, beneficially extend the fermentations – an approach which at this address no one I know has ever accused of diminishing potential elegance, or clarity of fruit. "Chaptalization has an unjustly bad name," adds Marie-Christine Mugneret to reinforce their point. (Incidentally, although there have been plans to legally reconstitute this estate under a single name, each of its appellations continues for now to belong to either Domaine Georges Mugneret or Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg, a distinction I have intentionally blurred in referring to the wines of this cellar by the hybrid name "Georges Mugneret Gibourg" which its proprietors hope will eventually become official.) A Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93