2012 Chambolle Musigny Les Combottes

Another gorgeous wine, the 2012 Chambolle-Musigny Aux Combottes impresses for its round, sensual personality. Dark raspberries, blueberries, flowers, mint and licorice all flesh out gracefully. The firm tannins are going to require a few years to settle down, but this is a striking wine in the making. In 2012, there are only two barrels of the Combottes. Because of that, new oak is a bit higher than normal.

There are just two barrels of the 2012 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Aux Combottes this year. It has a delicate, mineral-led, quite feminine bouquet that dances about the glass. This is very pretty. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, crisp mineralite and a linear, citrus-driven finish that offers good length, yet refuses to fan out at the moment. Quite stern, but it should age well. Seeking a master-class in the premier crus of Chambolle-Musigny? Look no further than here, where Ghislaine Barthod crafts a small flotilla of wines from within the ambit of her maison that she shares with Louis Boillot (see separate entry.) I have been closely following Ghislaine’s wines for over a decade: reliable, dependable and predisposed to reflecting the vagaries of the growing season. These are not polished wines, not even wines craving to score points. They are wines that I want to buy and drink with friends. The picking commenced on 22 September after the travails of the growing season that I will not regurgitate here. Of course, the barrels were at different stages of evolution when we tasted through the crus, which Ghislaine explained was partly due to temperature variations within the cellar (for example, the section underneath the house being slightly warmer than the part underneath the garden.) What I appreciated about these wines is that they articulated the vagaries of each climat, and tasting through these wines was akin to taking a sensory tour of the appellation. So while Les Cras was stony and severe, the Beaux-Bruns is rounded and affable, the Gruenchers more standoffish and distant. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

There are just two barrels of the 2012 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Aux Combottes this year. It has a delicate, mineral-led, quite feminine bouquet that dances about the glass. This is very pretty. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, crisp mineralite and a linear, citrus-driven finish that offers good length, yet refuses to fan out at the moment. Quite stern, but it should age well. ||Seeking a master-class in the premier crus of Chambolle-Musigny? Look no further than here, where Ghislaine Barthod crafts a small flotilla of wines from within the ambit of her maison that she shares with Louis Boillot (see separate entry.) I have been closely following Ghislaine’s wines for over a decade: reliable, dependable and predisposed to reflecting the vagaries of the growing season. These are not polished wines, not even wines craving to score points. They are wines that I want to buy and drink with friends. The picking commenced on 22 September after the travails of the growing season that I will not regurgitate here. Of course, the barrels were at different stages of evolution when we tasted through the crus, which Ghislaine explained was partly due to temperature variations within the cellar (for example, the section underneath the house being slightly warmer than the part underneath the garden.) What I appreciated about these wines is that they articulated the vagaries of each climat, and tasting through these wines was akin to taking a sensory tour of the appellation. So while Les Cras was stony and severe, the Beaux-Bruns is rounded and affable, the Gruenchers more standoffish and distant. eRobertParker.com.December, 2013