2008 Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

The 2008 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru was a cold vintage where the malolactic did not finish for one year! Undergrowth and mulch aromas filter through the red fruit, morels and a touch of brine, a little rustic but attractive. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, quite edgy and sharp due to the acidity, but it does attenuate on the finish.

Moderately saturated medium red with a faintly amber edge. Showing more dried fruits, soil, mint and herbs than primary fruit on the nose but with bracing acidity providing lift. Totally different in style from the 2009, this silky, fine-grained midweight is shot through with energy and salty minerality. Though firmly built, it's surprisingly harmonious today. Marie-Andrée described 2008 as "the frontier between the problems we had with insufficient acidity in some earlier vintages and the good balance we have today." She went on: "It's the first vintage where we really saw the effects of our work in the vineyards." The Mugneret sisters also carried out a gentle extraction for this wine and the malolactic fermentation was long and late. Incidentally, this vintage had the highest natural acidity of any in the tasting. Finishes lively and persistent, with dusty tannins. Marie-Andrée says this would be perfect with fish with Japanese accents while the '09 would go especially well with pigeon roasted with its juices. (13.5% alcohol; 40 hl/h; 3.3 pH; harvested on September 28)

The estate’s 2008 Clos de Vougeot is at first rather powerful and wild, but finds its center with time. Scents of mint, crushed flowers and rocks wrap around the bright red fruit on the intense, polished finish. The Clos de Vougeot will require significant patience, but it is very beautiful. Anticipated maturity: 2023-2043. This is an impressive set of wines from sisters Marie-Andree and Marie-Christine Mugneret. I can’t think of too many estates that did so well in both 2008 and 2009. Beginning with the 2009 vintage, the estate has simplified their name to Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg, which should eliminate some of the confusion of past years. The 2009 harvest began on September 12. The fruit was 100% destemmed. Marie-Andree Mugneret told me she was concerned about over-extracting given the inherent richness in the fruit, so she opted for a gentle approach to vinification. Cuvaison ranged from 15-20 days. After pressing the wines were moved into oak, where they saw one racking just after the malos. New oak ranged from 10% for the Bourgogne, 25% for the Vosne-Romanee, 40% for the Chaignots, 45% for the Feusselottes and 70% for the Grand Crus, from four different coopers. During the time of my visit the wines were being moved into steel, where they would remain for three months prior to bottling. Mugneret planned to bottle with no fining or filtration. Readers should also pay close attention to the estate’s 2008s, which are simply brilliant. The 2008 harvest started on the 22nd of September. Some of the malos took as long as a year to finish. Importers: Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300, a Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93