Those who know me well, know my total obsession to learn more about wine, and my soft-spot for Chambolle. So I was thrilled when my boss-to-be, Will Hargrove, invited me to attend a Domaine Comte Georges De Vogüé dinner hosted by Jean-Luc Pépin at the Ritz. It is rare, even when working in the wine trade, to see a line-up like this, so apologies if my notes have become rather lengthy.

Domaine Georges de Vogüé is without doubt the king of Chambolle-Musigny. With the largest holdings of Musigny and Bonnes Mares as well as a big chunk of Les Amoureuses, it captures the essence of Chambolle. The domaine traces its history back to 1450 and has always remained in the same family, with Cerice-Melchior de Vogüé marrying into the family in 1766. The current label and family crest traces its history to 1925 with the arrival of Comte Georges de Vogüé, the grandfather of the current owners (Claire de Causans and Marie de Ladoucette). Since the 1980s, three important people are in charge of running the estate: Jean-Luc Pépin as sales manager, François Millet as wine-maker and Eric Bourgogne in the vineyard.

Long evenings can be spent pondering the supremacy of Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny, but it is the latter that steadfastly seduces the Pinot aficionado. Rarely deeply coloured and less structured, it is the noble finesse that entices. There is an unusually high level of active limestone in Chambolle, which causes a slight chlorosis affecting photosynthesis (thereby naturally reducing yields) and it has been quoted as part of the reason for the lace-like elegance of the wines. Jean-Luc describes Chambolle as the ‘most mineral of all Burgundies with finesse, delicacy and fragrance at the expense of muscle’.

As the evening progressed, Jean-Luc’s incredibly intricate knowledge and passion for the domaine became evident. No cost is spared to retain perfection and there is a natural supposition that with great terroir comes great responsibility to make noble wine. An extraordinary 9.9ha (out of the 12.45ha owned by the estate) is Grand Cru vineyard and this has allowed the domaine to add a ‘house’ classification to the wines based on vine age. Young vines (less than 25 years old; something many other producers would call Vieilles Vignes) are systematically declassified. All the wines were sourced from the domaine’s personal cellar (numbered 000000) meaning perfect provenance.

The evening started with 2009 Bourgogne Blanc. Without doubt the world’s most famous (and expensive) Bourgogne Blanc. All the grapes are sourced from the upper part of Musigny and in essence this is declassified Musigny Blanc Grand Cru. Jules Lavalle, writing in the mid 19th century, mentions a considerable amount of white grapes grown in Musigny. This may explain why today Musigny is the only Grand Cru in the Côte-de-Nuits that has Grand Cru status for both red and white wine. However, according to the strict and unusual appellation rules there is no other white wine classification in Chambolle except for Bourgogne Blanc (neighbouring Morey-St-Denis has a 1er Cru and village classification for white Morey-St-Denis). As the domaine started replacing old vines during the 1980s (1986, 1987, 1991 and 1997) it did not want to compromise on the quality of its famous Musigny Blanc and therefore declassified the wine to Bourgogne Blanc. The last vintage of Musigny Blanc was 1993 (with only 3 barrels – reminiscent of production in 2013). The 2009 (described by Jean-Luc as the last Burgundy vintage with good yields) has the texture, density and opulence of a Grand Cru. The palate is exotic with notes of hazelnut and creamy butterscotch. Despite the opulence there is also finesse, but the texture and flavour profile make it difficult to draw comparisons with other white Burgundies. It is truly unique. Jean-Luc is not giving any hints as to when to expect an upgrade from Bourgogne Blanc back to Musigny Blanc…..maybe we need to wait for the vines to be 25 years old….

Next a flight of three reds: 2007 village Chambolle-Musigny, 1999 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru and 2001 Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses 1er Cru. The domaine owns 1.8ha of village Chambolle in the lieu-dit of Les Porlottes at the highest part of the appellation, but also adds grapes from two famous 1er Crus: Les Baudes and Les Fuees. Jean-Luc describes 2007 as a ‘bizarre vintage’ with a warm spring that had summer conditions, a difficult summer, yet an early picking on 1 September (really very similar to 2011). The quality of the fruit at the domaine really shines through in this difficult vintage and the wine displays a lovely freshness with a mineral backbone typical of the estate. Red fruit interweaves with taut wet granite. Totally ready to drink, there is no rush to finish the bottles in the cellar.

The 1999 Chambolle 1er Cru is a real step up. 1999 is a great Burgundy vintage and follows a line of many great vintages ending in ‘9’…..2009, 1999, 1989, 1979….1929, 1919….even 1719 The vintage is described by Jean-Luc as the year that ‘mother nature was gracious….a complete vintage. True perfection’. The only problem in 1999 was high yields, in essence a luxury problem that needed to be controlled (the domaine eliminated 50% of its yields). The 1er Cru is made exclusively from the younger vines of Musigny (vines less than 25 years old), but this does have the advantage of being made with some of the best Pinot clones specifically chosen by the current team (and that promises an extra dimension to the Musigny in the future). There is a wonderful lifted quality on the nose with a dense structure and serious length. Dark, rather than red, fruit with pronounced floral aromatics especially violets. With notes of sous bois, it is showing its evolution, yet continued to evolve in the glass. Jean-Luc also highlighted that the 1er Cru was only introduced in 1995 and the young vines in previous vintages were added to the village Chambolle (so it may be worth looking out for a bottle of 1993 village Chambolle!).

2001 Les Amoureuses was gorgeous. Described by Jean Luc as ‘the lady of chambolle’, Les Amoureuses (like Clos St Jacques in Gevrey Chambertin) is widely regarded as a 1er Cru that deserves Grand Cru status. Amoureuses is a very special vineyard and a bottle of 1996 Amoureues in 2010 changed me from an experimental taster to an obsessive Burgundy nut. As a vineyard it has always retained its magic for me. The plot is located just below Musigny, on similar soil, and was replanted in 1974. It is closer in style to Musigny than Bonnes Mares and I kept my glass to taste next to the 1993 Musigny. Both show pronounced similarities though Amoureuses unfurls its complexities quicker charming far more in youth. 2001 is not an easy vintage, described by Jean-Luc as a ‘nebula-vintage’, in which botrytis was a real risk. The aromas are restrained, but on the palate it captures the elusive quality of Amoureuses with a surprising lift on the front palate, where the structure is based solely on acidity rather than tannins. There is a tension between the weight and the aromatics that is fascinating and my neighbour rather aptly described it as a beautiful woman behind a transparent veil adding allure.

As two glasses of Grand Cru were brought, the attention in the room focused totally on the glasses in front of us: 1999 Bonnes Mares and 1993 Musigny. About Bonnes Mares, Jean-Luc states that it ‘is a great wine that deserves more attention, but does not belong to Chambolle’.The vineyard straddles into Morey-St-Denis and has two specific types of soil that would merit an official division of the appellation. Despite their large holdings, the entire de Vogüé plot is located on the Chambolle side on red soil (albeit the lightest of the red soils) giving a certain fleshiness to the wines. The 1999 Bonnes Mares is exceptional with crunchy red fruit, tight taut tannins, a brooding muscular weight and fabulous length. The precision in this wine and the taut minerality speak loudest and for many people this was the wine of the night.

Among the most majestic of the Grand Crus, Musigny is like a ballet dancer performing a Grand Jeté; muscular power, concentration and intensity somehow create an image of effortless grace and timeless perfection. 1993 Musigny by de Vogüé captures this beautifully. It has a huge core of flavour intensity and the complexities of age are only just slowly unfurling. At 22 years it is still youthful with a masculine structure and weight that will allow this wine to age for decades. Yet, the overall perception is of feminine grace with seamless tannins, where a myriad of flavours are simple building blocks to create a wine that brings a subtle mystery transcending the limits of our logical understanding of the wine making process. That is probably enough lyrical praise. Interestingly, according to Lavalle’s 1855 classification of Burgundy, Musigny is the only tête de cuvee in Chambolle-Musigny. There are three separate lieux-dits, which make up this Grand Cru and Comte de Vogüé owns all of Petits Musigny and part of Grands Musigny. Jean-Luc calls Musigny a ‘privilege to manage’ and he considers 1993 among the greatest vintages of the 1990s due natural low yields. A difficult summer created thick skins (flavour), while a gorgeous August provided ripeness and sufficient sugar levels.

We finished the evening with a 1990 Musigny Blanc. 1990 provided the same ‘luxury problem’ of 1999 where the biggest challenge was to restrain high yields. The wines were picked in late September. Unlike the Bourgogne Blanc (and future Musigny Blanc), 1990 still has small proportions of Pinot Blanc which were part of the traditional field blend in Burgundy. The liquid looked golden with a tinge of pink and is fascinating. There is great density with the poise of a Corton Charlemagne but an aromatic profile reminiscent of a Vendange Tardive. It somehow reminds me of a great white Rioja or an old white Hermitage and was a fantastic match with cheese. It is utterly unique and I could have spent an entire evening with this wine. Sadly it faded relatively quickly in the glass.

Overall an exceptional tasting of an iconic property. The dedication of the team only holds more promise for the future and as vines come of age, the wines will only become more and more exciting.