2016 Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos de la Marechale 1er Cru

Aromas of cassis, dark plums, baking chocolate and rosehip introduce the 2016 Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale, a full-bodied, rich and layered wine with a broad-shouldered chassis of fine, stony tannins that are entirely enveloped in fleshy, gourmand fruit. This vintage is atypically rich and concentrated, so it's hard to predict if and when it will shut down.

More expressive than I expected. Bright cherry fruit. Piercing purity and intensity of fruit. Great power and concentration without exaggeration but it’s not a wallflower. Lighter on the palate than I expected, with delicate but definite tannins. Sour-cherry finish. Startling presence. Needs time. (JH)

(just over 14% alcohol; 40% of the crop was lost to frost): Bright red-ruby; the darkest of these 2016s. Also the fruitiest on the nose, with black cherry and dark raspberry aromas complemented by smoky minerality. Powerful, rich and chewy, showing good inner-mouth energy and savory complexity to its dense flavors of black cherry, dark chocolate and menthol. Finishes fresh, sweet and long, with tongue-saturating tannins that are more obvious than those of Mugnier's '16s from Chambolle-Musigny but essentially smooth. This wine reminded me of a 2015 in style, although today all of Mugnier's 2016s share some of the earlier vintage's full ripeness and volume.