2017 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru

"After the 2003 vintage I said that I would never pick in August," winemaker Frédéric Mugnier tells me with a smirk on his face, recalling the year harvesters began on 1 September. "Well, I guess I have changed that view!" My conversation with Mugnier is consistently one of the most enlightening and candid during my visits and his comments symbolize the seachange of opinion towards the growing season and the timing of the harvest with global warming now accepted as a real phenomenon. "The vines suffered from drought because there was no rain from July. I picked Bonnes Mares on 28 August. There were three parts of the harvest. The Bonnes-Mares was followed by the other wines in Chambolle-Musigny from 1 to 3 September and then I waited until the 8 September to pick the Clos de Maréchale that had been hit by hail twice in July. Two hailstorms affected our vineyard in Nuits-Saint-Georges and both were very static and didn’t move much. The hail stones were small but they fell for around 30 minutes." Mugnier pointed out that his vines now seem to be achieving higher acidity levels since the 2015 vintage. "The vines have adapted since that vintage," he opined. "They now achieve lower pH levels naturally." As is customary I tasted through the 2018s from barrel and 2017s in bottle, plus the 2013 Musigny Vieilles Vignes, due for release, sectioned off for a Cellar Favorite." Contrary to status, as usual I prefer his Les Amoureuses to the Bonnes-Mares, understand why he serves the Grand Cru first (though a recent bottle of 2010 Bonnes-Mares proved how it can produce a great wine in a benevolent growing season.) The crown jewel, his Musigny Vieilles Vignes, was completely entrancing although like previous vintages, Mugnier will not release it until he feels it is ready.

Frédéric Mugnier was seated in his office when I arrived at his ivy-clad mansion turned autumnal yellow and red. His desk was flanked by a top-end hi-fi system, Mugnier being both an audiophile and a classical music fan. I recall one visit being preceded by a conversation concerning the quality of speaker leads, his engineering background coming to the fore. Alas, there was no time to slap on some Bach; there were 2017s to taste down in his cellar.

“Spring was dry, which was good,” Mugnier told me in an indifferent tone at odds with his passion as a winemaker. “It was nice to work out in the vineyard, and the dry conditions prevented disease. Summer was balanced: sunny enough and not excessively hot, so the vines did not suffer. There was no hail, and so on. The grapes were just perfect-looking. Even the size of the clusters was just right. Everything was looking nice. We started the picking on September 5 and finished around September 12. I chaptalised by 0.14° alcohol, which is almost nothing, so that final alcohol levels are between 12.5° and 13.2°”

Mugnier’s wines are always understated from barrel. If at one end you might cite de Vogüé as barrel samples that know how to “put out” during élevage, Mugnier’s are bashful and discreet, demanding coaxing from the glass. This year I must admit that I was seeking more from his Chambolle-Musigny Village and Les Fuées, both of which were missing the density and grip of the previous vintages. And as usual, I feel his Bonnes-Mares is satisfactory rather than exceptional, simply because it is not the best-sited parcel. Yet the Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses is as good as you will find in 2017, and the Musigny Vieilles Vignes delivers everything you expect. Perhaps the real gem is Mugnier’s monopole of Nuits Saint-Georges Clos de la Maréchale, one of the finest that I have tasted from barrel and potentially a great value once released.