Sarah Marsh MW
CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY DOMAINE GHISLAINE BARTHOD Ghislaine’s son Clément has taken over here. He says the season was pretty easy but needed a good green-harvest: “In 2023, we averaged 42hl/ha.” These wines are a delight—and nowhere else can you taste such a wide range of Chambolle premiers crus. Clément has separated out a couple of the very small parcels that Ghislaine used to include in the village blend.
Chambolle-Musigny
A blend of nine parcels. Floral and silky Chambolle, with red, soft summer fruit, plump and ripe but with enough freshness to balance. 2026–31. | 87–88
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Beaux Bruns
Succulent and dense and juicy. Round palate. Velvety tannins. Slightly earthy wine, which is spicy on the finish. 35% new oak. 2026–35. | 93
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Charmes
So floral and perfumed on the rounded and opulent palate. Spot-on for typicité. A light herbal lift carries the finish. Lovely. 2026–32. | 93–94
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Chatelots
From 80-year-old vines. Fresh and piquant. Cherry and redcurrant fruit, nicely ripened. Vibrant, with a light crunchy note. Lively to finish. I like the snappy character. 2026–35. | 93
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cus Les Fuées
Red-fruit aroma and a delicious intensity. This is more complex, layered with sweetness and stoniness. The greatest concentration and yet there is freshness, too. Good length. Spot-on again. 2026–35. | 94–95
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Greunchers
After the Charmes, this is crunchier and spikier. Crisp and juicy red fruit. Lively. Morello-cherry bite and lift. Crackles on the finish. I like the cherry- stone bitterness to the finish. 2026–32. | 94
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Véroilles
A more herbal and upright, piquant, red-cherry aroma. Direct and pure, with lovely, bright, and singing fruit. Pure and lucid, energetic and saline to finish. My favorite among all these premiers crus. 2026–32. | 94–95
DOMAINE JACQUES-FRÉDÉRIC MUGNIER Frédéric Mugnier explained that there was one change in the winery for 2023. “This year I did some saignée, to take off some of the water that fell in August.” The last time he did this was in 1999. “Doing this will not change the level of alcohol, so I
prefer this to chaptalizing. I am now very optimistic about 2023. They are not big wines. This is a vintage that will be ready earlier, which is a good thing, as we have had a series of vintages that demand aging. When I want a wine to drink, and not an old vintage, I will always choose a wine from a colder vintage, as they will show more expression in youth than a hotter vintage.” As this suggests, Frédéric considers 2023 to be a cold vintage: “Just three very hot days in September. Maybe it is like 2001 for the rain or 1999 for the volume—but it’s very different from recent vintages.” The wines are delicate, and light in a good way, as always. Not as concentrated as recent vintages. They are gentle. In the wines from Chambolle, there is a whisper of tannin, with a light herbal note, which contributes freshness.
White
Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Clos de la Maréchale
Ripe, stone-fruit aroma. Apricot, juicy richness and generosity on the full palate, which has a sumptuous texture, all of which is undercut with sapidity. It shows energy and freshness to finish. Opulent and inviting. 2026–23. | 93–94
Red
Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Clos de la Maréchale
Light spice and wild bramble fruit on this sweetly supple palate, with velvet tannins. It has an attractive bitterness on the finish. 2026–35. | 92
Chambolle-Musigny
Strawberry aromatics; a gently rounded, inviting palate of soft red fruit, with a waft of tannin and a lightly herbal note to finish. The hint of leafiness at the end works well here, for it is delicate and brings freshness. Frédéric comments, “The south part of Chambolle has a nice vegetal note, by which I mean there is fruit, flower, and the leaves.” 2026–33. | 89
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Amoureuses
Intense aromatics, concentrated and perfumed. A silken-textured wine, woven with just enough acidity as the fruit envelopes the core. There is volume, but it’s airy. It has a lightly peppery character, part of the aromatics, and at the end, a hint of mint. 2027–36. | 94–95
Le Musigny Grand Cru
Both lucid and focused. Delicate but intense and channeled. Fine-porcelain tannin. A fine-boned wine with lovely persistence, which shows tension as it vibrates to the finish. 2028–38. | 97
DOMAINE GEORGES ROUMIER Christophe Roumier remarked of the 2023 growing season: “We did a green-harvest in some places, as the fruit set was too good. I kept the same quantity of whole-bunch as usual. I adjusted the acidity a little—when you use whole-bunch, you have to accept this—before fermentation of course. I never do it by looking at the numbers, but rather by taste.
If I felt I was missing something, I would adjust before the barreling down.” Less new oak this year. Chambolle is always less than 20%, and this year it is only 20% for the premiers and grands crus.
Chambolle-Musigny
Super-suave into the palate: succulent red fruit, smooth, gliding, and generous. A nice, crisp, tannic note to finish. 50% whole-bunch, and you notice this herbal note on the finish. 2027–34. | 91
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Amoureuses
Denser and richer than the Ruchottes, and more engaging. It’s juicy and energetic. So succulent. A touch opulent on the finish, but equally powerful and persistent. 2027–37. | 96
Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Cras
Sweetness on the nose. Red summer fruits and white-pepper spiciness, which carries into the palate, which is full and rounded, lightly opulent and nicely juicy. At the end, it is much saltier, with a fine twang of tannins. Savory, salty tension at the end. Sweet then salty—the best I tasted. Super terroir definition. 2027–28. | 95
Bonnes Mares Grand Cru
Bitter black chocolate and forest fruit on the nose. A streamlined Bonnes Mares. There is a density and intensity. Power and lithe muscle, then at the end really quite salty. I like the well-defined edges and then the salty bite to the finish. “60% of the white soils now, and this brings the saltness,” says Christophe. 2028–38. | 96
Le Musigny Grand Cru
There were only two barrels in 2023 and 2022 and none at all in 2024. Gorgeous rose-petal intensity on both nose and palate—but make no mistake, this is fabulously focused. A strong and steely core. It’s easy to be distracted by the wonderful perfume, but under this the structure is firm and contained and there is exceptional length. Stunning finish. Among my top four red wines of the vintage 2028–40+. | 99
Ruchottes-Chambertin Grand Cru
It has grip, bite, and a whistling, cold note. Savory, tense, and tight. Channeled, knife-edged, with a super-salty, persistent finish. I like this chiseled and chilly style. “Very long and focused, mineral and tight,” muses Christophe. 2028–37. | 96
Echézeaux Grand Cru
In 2023, Christophe has an additional new source for this wine—0.13ha (0.3 acre) in the exciting En Orveaux section of Echézeaux. 90% whole- bunch. Smooth and satin-rich in texture. A lightly sumptuous note. On the mid-palate, there is ripe, blackcurrant fruit and dark-chocolate bitterness, which carries to the finish. I liked his pretty En Orveaux, but this is deeper, richer, and suaver. “This new parcel brings more density and richness. It is a bit more serious now.” 2027–40. | 97
THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 183
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