2018 Vosne-Romanée Village

This year I tasted the 2018 and 2019s of Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg with co-proprietor Marie-Andrée Mugneret. “At the end of spring we had frost in the morning and the cold mornings slowed down the vegetative cycle, though the flowering was mid-June and normal in terms of timing. The beginning of the summer was clement and then hot temperatures at the end of June and end of July stressed the vines. This meant that maturity was not as fast as you might have imagined with all the sun. We started picking on 15 September and harvested over five days. Everything is de-stemmed as usual except for the Echézeaux and Ruchottes-Chambertin. The vinification was normal. We were surprised as the level of sugar was higher than in 2018 when we had some problems finishing the fermentation. But we did not have this problem in 2019. The average alcohol is between 13.8° and 14.0°, the Bourgogne Rouge with 14.7°. The 2019s will be racked in January and then we will start bottling in March after three months in tank.”

This was another wonderful set of wines from Mugneret-Gibourg. Their Clos Vougeot can sometimes surpass their Ruchottes-Chambertin, but in 2019 I felt the latter was a couple of steps ahead, its limestone soils imparting immense energy into this nascent wine. I was also struck by the quality of their Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes, its satin texture belying the structure and concentration behind. Probably the best value will be the Nuits Saint-Georges Les Chaignots, although market prices have crept up in recent years.

Mugneret-Gibourg is always one of the visits I anticipate the most. I have been visiting here for over 20 years and the sisters, Marie-Christine and Marie-Andrée are as friendly as they have always been. “We had a normal production around 29-30hl/ha on average," Marie-Christine told me in their newly renovated cellars. "The harvest began on 5 September and picked over five days. The weather was nice during harvest. All the wine are de-stemmed except for the Echézeaux. We had to add some stems in 2016 to make up for the small volume and it seemed to work, so we used the same percentage for subsequent vintages. We might include some stems in the future for other appellations, but not too much. The alcohol levels are between 13.8% and 14.3%. It was a new thing for us with higher levels of alcohol and I was a little scared finishing a couple of the fermentations that were a bit slow. But it taught us a lot and that helped us to vinify in 2019. The wines were racked at the beginning of July."