2022 Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses 1er Cru

True criticism must never be a personal attack upon an individual. That shows a lack of class. Winemaking is a poker game against Mother Nature. You don’t always win. It’s a game in which hindsight is a precious thing. I have been a fan of Frédéric Mugnier’s wines since I first visited over 20 years ago. But in 2023, the wines fell below the high bar he set. On a day when I was able to taste multiple Bonnes-Mares or Musigny, the shortcomings could not be ignored. Mugnier, without question the most candid of any Burgundy winemaker, understood that 2023 is not a vintage in which the wind blew in his direction. Even last year, I remember him lamenting the season that had passed.

“It was terrible,” Mugnier says, never one to mince his words. His sigh is beyond compare. “Though I’m rarely happy with the harvest or the quality of the grapes. Twenty-three should have been very similar to 2022, and up to mid-July, it was. Then we had rain at regular intervals – not a deluge, but it was almost every week. The berries became unexpectedly swollen and if I’d known, I would have done a green harvest. That might have diminished the yield but not necessarily improved quality since the berries would have been even bigger. So, the yield is more than I would have liked. The larger berries had thin skins so this risked acid rot. A small amount is sufficient to create vinegary aromas. This made me anxious. We started picking on September 7 in Bonnes-Mares and stopped and started picking due to rain and varying degrees of maturity. We finished on September 22 with the Musigny. We did a lot of sorting during the picking and at reception. Everything is destemmed.”

Because of Mugnier’s deserved standing, I can understand that this might rankle with some Burgundy lovers, but I have never pulled punches and don’t intend to begin now. The wines in 2023 just miss the depth and concentration that you expect from propitious climats such as Les Amoureuses or Les Fuées. They are sleight, a little enfeebled by the rains, so there is a distinct lack of grip on the finishes. To experience Mugnier in full flight, seek out his 2022 Les Amoureuses, which is just beautiful, or the 2017 Musigny that will be put onto the market this year as he now releases it much later. The remainder of barrel maturation might add some weight to his nascent 2023s, but overall, this is just one of those vintages that got away from one of Burgundy’s best winemakers. You can’t win ‘em all.

You gotta love Frédéric Mugnier. As I have written before, what comes across as an almost ambivalent attitude to his métier, as if to say, ‘Did I give up a career in engineering to make Musigny?’ inevitably turns into a discussion about winemaking and the comings and goings of Burgundy. Mugnier is never shy of airing his opinion (either face-to-face or in print). To quote another winemaker from earlier that day, Mugnier is forever the contrarian. I think he wouldn’t want it any other way.

“It was an especially challenging growing season,” he tells me. “In early August, I was anxious as it was too hot, and the vines were not looking good, some berries already shriveling. Some already tasted a bit oxidized. But I like to be pessimistic. Fortunately, there was enough rain just before the harvest to revive the grapes. The harvest began September 1 and took place over seven days. There was not much triage, and the vinification was normal. The wines were raised in around 15% new oak for all the cuvées and no stems.”

The wines are a mixed bag. I felt that in juxtaposition with Mugnier’s other cuvées, the Chambolle Les Fuées exhibited a little sur-maturité. It’s normally a wine I like, more so than even his Bonnes-Mares, so I’ll revisit it once in bottle. The highlights predictably include the Les Amoureuses and Musigny Vieilles Vignes, the latter more taciturn aromatically but convincing in the mouth. Readers should note that Mugnier continues his policy of not releasing this wine until it has some bottle maturity. I tasted the current release, the 2016, which I published as a Cellar Favorite.