2015 Domaine Jacques Prieur Musigny Grand Cru

An ultra-spicy and pure nose offers up notes of black raspberry, sandalwood and in the same fashion as the Ech, Asian-style exotic tea scents. There is a highly polished mouth feel to the impressively dense, serious and muscular flavors that exhibit plenty of minerality on the exceptionally firm finale where a hint of mocha appears. This beauty appears to have everything that it needs for a very long life. I would observe that the Prieur Musigny is often quite fine and sophisticated yet the 2015 version is not cut from that cloth; rather it is big, bold and robust and as I noted, is going to need time.

(Gublin vinified this cuvee with 15% whole clusters for the first time, as "the grapes were so magnificent"): Bright red-ruby. High-pitched, soil-driven perfume of raspberry, iron and wild herbs. Tightly wound but already seamless and brilliantly juicy, conveying great urgency to its flavors of crushed dark berries, spices and minerals. At once layered and penetrating, this infant Musigny finishes with building palate- and tooth-saturating tannins and great energy and length. Leaves behind a piquant note of curry powder in the empty glass.

The 2015 Musigny Grand Cru perhaps somewhat predictably has the most sophisticated bouquet amongst Prieur's red wines, with mulberry and blackberry notes infused with cold stone and subtle sous-bois aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with supple ripe tannin that feel quite "bony" at the moment, although it will mellow and gain more harmony. There is very fine focus on the finish with attractive salinity on the finish. Afford this a decade in the cellar if you can.