2015 Chambolle Musigny Combe d'Orveaux
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Tasting notes
(13.5% alcohol with a 3.25 pH; the yield here was just 20 hectoliters per hectare): Bright medium red. Knockout nose combines raspberry, rose petal, violet, spices and stone, with darker fruit notes emerging as the wine opens in the glass; there's a ripeness allied to freshness here that reminds me of southern Rhone grenache from a moderately warm vintage. Densely packed, wonderfully energetic, tactile wine with a captivating sweetness perfectly supported by lively acidity. This is actually a bit youthfully compact in the middle palate, with a slightly monolithic quality that calls for extended aging. The very long, mounting, palate-staining finish displays striking tension and a complete absence of edges. Clavelier's mostly very old vines here are situated next to Petits-Musigny, the southern portion of Musigny. Really transcends the vintage.
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
The 2015 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru La Combe d'Orveau was showing just a touch of reduction on the nose that seemed to blow away with rigorous aeration. Underneath lies dark cherries, raspberry and cranberry juice aromas infused with cold stone scents. The palate is fresh and vibrant on the entry. Crunchy red berry fruit to the fore, allied with tangible mineralité thanks to its stony texture that leaves the mouth tingling after the wine has departed. This is another superb 2015 from Bruno Clavelier.
(just 20 hectoliters per hectare produced from tiny millerandé berries from these mostly very old vines planted on very shallow topsoil over mineral-rich chalk): Bright, full red. Great aromatic complexity and perfumed lift to the exhilarating scents of strawberry, pomegranate, cranberry, spices, rose petal and crushed rock. Penetrating yet utterly silky and seamless, with perfectly integrated acidity framing and lifting the flavors of pungent red berries, flowers and spices. Tactile and densely packed but utterly weightless, this wine really tickles the palate with chalk. But although it's wonderfully airy on entry, the finish is more monolithic and strict (Clavelier called it "monastic") in the early going. The very firm, slowly rising finish promises a glorious, leisurely evolution in bottle. Clavelier's holding in La Combe d'Orveaux is adjacent to Petits-Musigny, which is part of the grand cru Musigny, and was classified as tête de cru prior to the Phylloxera epidemic.
Here the wood treatment is a bit less subtle though not so much as to significantly impede the appreciation of the spicy, fresh and airy aromas of essence of red currant and cherry that are laced with plenty of floral elements. The sleek, intense, mineral-driven and tension-filled middle weight flavors brim with dry extract that buffers the firm core of tannins on the detailed, chiseled and explosively long finish. This is quite simply marvelous and absolutely worthy of your interest, provided of course that you have at least moderate patience. Jan 2017, www.burghound.com, Drink: 2027+