2012 Chambolle Musigny Les Chatelots

The Chambolle-Musigny Les Chatelots is big, rich and explosive. Here the fruit is dark in tone, with sweet, balsamic inflected notes that add complexity. The tannins are big and imposing, but also very nicely integrated. With time in the glass, the Chatelots becomes a bit more finessed, but never loses its essential intensity.

The 2012 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Chatelots (of which there are 4½ barrels this year) comes from Ghislaine’s 0.23-hectares of 45-year old vines. It has a fleshy, more rounded bouquet than the Combottes with ebullient red cherries bursting from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannins; fine tension and a strict, focused finish with fine mineralite that will hopefully develop a touch more persistency during the remainder of its elevage. 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