2009 Chambolle Musigny Les Amoureuses

The 2009 Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses shows the darker side of this site. This is another beautifully delineated wine with gorgeous depth and tons of texture in the fruit. The wine acquires more femininity in the glass, yet this remains a fairly substantial, textured Amoureuses. The finish is striking in its harmony and completeness. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029. I tasted an impressive range of wines with Jacques Lardiere and his successor Frederic Barnier, who is slated to take over when Lardiere retires at the end of 2012. Jadot makes a mind-bending number of wines, but I limited myself to the best 35 or so examples. In 2009 Jadot began harvesting on September 6. All of the reds were made from 100% destemmed fruit. Maceration times varied from wine to wine, but according to Lardiere all of the wines were made with essentially the same approach. Lardiere is another of the producers who compares 2009 to 1959, and believes the wines will age well because of their density of fruit and minerality. Many of the estate’s own vineyards are farmed biodynamically, but of course Jadot also sources a significant amount of wine from other growers that is not necessarily from biodynamically farmed vineyards. Importer: Kobrand Corp., Purchase, NY; tel. (914) 253-7756

(one of two casks are new) Good full red. Very ripe aromas of black raspberry, redcurrant and spicy oak. Sweet, lush and stony, with palate-staining concentration. As broad on the end as it is in the middle. The stoniness takes charge on the back, giving the wine a classically dry finish. This beauty will require some bottle aging.