2012 Chambolle Musigny Les Amoureuses

The standout 2012 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses comes from vines located adjacent to those of Christophe Roumier, averaging around 40-years old. It has the finest bouquet of Rion’s premier crus: sensual, sumptuous dark cherry and cassis fruit interlaced with minerals. There is patently wonderful definition here. The palate has a sorbet-like freshness on the entry, plus a citric thread embroidered from start to finish. There is “Hitchcockian” tension here; a Chambolle-Musigny that already exhibits impressive focus on the linear saline finish. Excellent – just three and a half pieces this year. The heavens opened when I visited Domaine Michele & Patrice Rion, whose winery in Premeaux-Prissey looks upon the church on the busy RN74 artery. The domaine was born in 1990 when Patrice decided to set up his own venture with his wife, in parallel to working for his father Daniel Rion, which he had done since 1977. With just a couple of hectares to their name, they were obliged to out-source fruit to supplement the shortfall, paying a premium to growers that applied the same strict vineyard husbandry as his own. It became fully independent upon the construction of the new winery in 2000. He set about converting his own six hectares of holdings to organic viticulture and augmenting them with purchases of land, most significantly the monopole of Clos Saint Marc. Patrice, accompanied by his son Maxime who joined in 2005, guided me through the 2012 samples that had taken directly from barrel and prepared in quarter-sized bottles. Patrice commented that his 2012s display “strict tannins” at the moment with excellent structure, and he suspects that they will be long lasting. “They are a little like 2005 and 2009, perhaps 2010,” he suggested, although he speculates that they will close down due to the acidity and tannin levels. All the fruit here is de-stemmed and there is rigorous sorting via a long 4.5-metre vibrating table de trie and then a second table with ventilation that blows away unwanted berries, the latter used since 2003. The harvest commenced on September 24 for the reds and October 1 for their solitary white wine. I have tasted this domaine’s wines regularly at the London Burgundy primeur tastings and always been impressed. This is not a glitzy address. There is no cultish following for their wines, rather a following of those who appreciate consistently well-crafted wines. Stylistically you might argue that is leans slightly to a sleeker, more modern expression of Burgundy, but I would not go as far as to describe them as modern in style per se. In 2012, I would certainly be focusing my wallet upon their clutch of excellent crus from Chambolle-Musigny that should last for 10 to 15 years. Importer: David Bowler www.bowlerwine.com (NY) and Martine Saunier Wine www.martinesaunier.com (CA). Also available through several UK merchants including Berry Brothers & Rudd.