2012 Chambolle Musigny Vieilles Vignes

The 2012 Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes comes from four lieux-dits to the south of Chambolle, courtesy of vines aged between 55 and 70-years. It has a very elegant bouquet that needs a little more encouragement than the regular Chambolle, opening to reveal brambly black fruit, cold stone and a touch of forest floor. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, supple tannins matched with good acidity. There is fine depth here, adorned with rounded blackcurrant and raspberry fruit and perhaps just requiring a little more tension right on the finish. Still, this is very fine. It was my first visit to Domaine Hudelot-Baillet in Chambolle-Musigny. I chanced upon the wine at “The Sampler” in London when the name was little known. I was instantly taken with the wines and had been meaning to visit the winery since that time. Joel Hudelot founded the domaine in 1981 after being handed down small parcels of vine by his father Paul Hudelot and his mother Chantal Baillet. Paul retired in 2004 and his son-in-law Dominique Leguen took over the running of the estate, having worked alongside Paul since 1998. Dominique comes across has a straightforward, self-effacing vigneron, uninterested in bells and whistles to create flash wine, but rather using simple tenets in order to exploit his holdings to the full. Here, the harvest began on 22 September and yields were reduced, though having said that, 28hl/ha is not as pitiful as other growers. Everything here is de-stemmed, sorted but not crushed, and sees a modest amount of new oak from several cooperages such as Rousseau, Francois Freres and CaVin. As I anticipated, I adored these 2012s. They are clean, pure, weightless yet intense, adroitly expressing their terroirs with style and honesty, whether that is his delicious Bourgogne Passetoutgrain (one of the best I have tasted) or a sublime Bonnes-Mares, his sole grand cru. Importer: Michael Skurnik, 575 Underhill Blvd., Suite 216, Syosset, NY 11791 tel; 516-677-9300 and through Howard Ripley and The Sampler (UK).