2009 Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras 1er Cru

The 2009 Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras is loaded with class and energy. There is tremendous energy in the glass as layers of dark cherries, mint, graphite, crushed rocks, spices and licorice gain volume and breath through the mid-palate and finish. I very much like the intensity and focus here. The Cras is going to need at least another few years in bottle, but it is shaping up to be truly stellar.

The 2009 Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras is loaded with class and energy. There is tremendous energy in the glass as layers of dark cherries, mint, graphite, crushed rocks, spices and licorice gain volume and breath through the mid-palate and finish. I very much like the intensity and focus here. The Cras is going to need at least another few years in bottle, but it is shaping up to be truly stellar. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029. Barthod’s 2009s are just as impressive from bottle as they were from barrel. Barthod and her husband Louis Boillot told me they moved up their harvest date by four days in 2009 because the fruit was ripening quickly. That turns out to have been a very wise choice. The Barthod 2009s have wonderful energy to match the radiance of the year. Readers can’t go wrong with any of these superb 2009s Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Good medium red. Aromas of musky raspberry, coffee and earth, with a note of sappy cherry emerging with air. Large-scaled and silky in texture but utterly unevolved today, coming across as dry and uncompromising. This youthfully imploded wine is distinctly linear today and will need extended aging to ripen in the bottle. Strong mineral and menthol notes carry through to the long aftertaste. An austere 2009 with substantial dusty tannins, but built for long life.