2012 Chambolle Musigny Les Groseilles

A beautifully balanced wine, the domaine's 2012 Chambolle-Musigny Les Groseilles impresses for its captivating inner perfume, sweet, layered fruit and silky tannins. Dark red cherries, rose petals, cinnamon and hard candy linger on the supple, gracious finish. The Groseilles is one of the more feminine wines in the range. It is pretty hard to resist, even today.

The 2012 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Groseilles comes from the domaine-s 0.52-hectare parcel of southeast facing vines planted as far back as 1937. It has a "distant" bouquet with broody, introverted black dusky fruit and forest floor/mushroom aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with solid tannins from a Les Groseilles, which is usually more feminine, perhaps due to the thick skins. But there is plenty of black plum and blackberry fruit to enjoy and it segues into a solid and masculine finish. Fine. Domaine de la Pousse d'Or is one of the most picturesque estates in Burgundy, perched imperiously on the southern flank of Volnay village. With his hounds encircling his legs, I met with Patrick Landanger who became proprietor back in 1997 due to the untimely passed of Gerard Potel. His intentions of becoming a silent shareholder were changed and having acquired the remaining shares from the Potel family, found himself the sole proprietor. He got the bit between his teeth, expanding the domaine's holdings up unto Corton and down into Puligny, converting the vineyard to organic viticulture with an eye on biodynamics. We tasted the wines in his multi-tiered cuverie as assembled blend taken directly from vat. Patrick was keen to stress his dedication to sorting, first via a vibrating table, then a second by eye and hand, then electronically. The result is very pure fruit that fortunately is not taken to the extreme so that it erases the nuances of each terroir. Moreover, I appreciate the prudent use of new oak here. This is another estate, like Marquis d'Angerville, that has a ceteris paribus approach i.e. it is maintained at 30% so that those nuances of terroir can be observed without being skewed by the level of wood. There have been occasions, most notably apropos the 2009 vintage, where I felt that there was a touch of over-ripeness evident in the wines. In 2012 I only discerned one cuvee that exhibited similar traits, the Bonnes-Mares, which came across rather ostentatious compared to the far more refined Clos-de-la-Roche. Otherwise, these 2012s from La Pousse d'Or are worth seeking out. Importers: North Berkeley Wine, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 336-9880; a Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93

The 2012 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Groseilles comes from the domaine-s 0.52-hectare parcel of southeast facing vines planted as far back as 1937. It has a "distant" bouquet with broody, introverted black dusky fruit and forest floor/mushroom aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with solid tannins from a Les Groseilles, which is usually more feminine, perhaps due to the thick skins. But there is plenty of black plum and blackberry fruit to enjoy and it segues into a solid and masculine finish. Fine. Dec 2013, www.robertparker.com