2005 Maison Joseph Drouhin Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru

($87) Good medium red. Deep, smoky aromas of musky raspberry and underbrush. Sweet, lush and fat with redcurrant and raspberry fruit. Seamless and silky in a Chambolle way. Finishes with smooth, sweet tannins and very good persistence.

Author: Stephen Tanzer

Issue: March/April 2008

A background note of wood serves as a backdrop for equally elegant, pure and refined, indeed even airy red pinot and raspberry suffused aromas that dissolve seamlessly into sweet, rich and beautifully well balanced middle weight flavors that possess excellent finishing intensity, vibrancy and persistence. I very much like the sense of underlying tension and reserve here.

Author: Allen Meadows

Issue: 2nd Quarter, 2007

An enticing display of sweet cherry, berry and spice notes, with a firm yet well-integrated structure for support. Concentrated and powerful, with a long, mineral- and spice-inflected aftertaste.

Author: Bruce Sanderson

Given its origins in such crus as Combottes, Hauts Doix (beneath Amoureuses, where they are the largest owners after Groffier), and Borniques (abutting Musigny), it is perhaps little wonder that Drouhin's 2005 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru epitomizes communal virtues. It leads with alluring bitter-sweet flowers, cherry, and red raspberry; displays deep, marrowy meatiness and nutmeg-, ginger- and pit-tinged red fruits on a polished, tender, silken palate; and finishes with delightful friskiness of fruit and subtly salty, chalky minerality. This extroverted, luminous 2005 can be enjoyed immediately, although perhaps it will shut down for a couple of years.

Author: David Schildknecht