2014 Chambolle Musigny Les Amoureuses

(vinified with 50% whole clusters): Bright dark red. Pure but subdued aromas of dark berries, menthol, red licorice and spices. Youthfully imploded and a bit medicinal in the early going but still with a smooth texture to its smoky, soil-driven flavors. Nicolas Groffier mentioned that this wine is typically woody at the bottling but today the oak doesn't bother me. Finishes savory and long, with substantial granular tannins and a suggestion of chocolatey ripeness. Still, I don't fine the éclat or flavor definition for a higher score. Incidentally, the Groffiers are now sealing their bottles with wax capsules.

(from 70 year-old-vines; vinified with 50% whole clusters and aged in 50% new oak): Healthy dark red. Aromatic nose combines blackberry, cassis and menthol. Concentrated, densely packed and dark; less expressive than the Bonnes-Mares today, conveying an impression of lower acidity but stronger tannins. A distinctly powerful, dark-fruit style of Amoureuses, this will need time in bottle to harmonize. My sample began a bit brutal but settled down with air, spreading out to saturate the palate and gaining in silkiness. The clay in the soil here gives more flesh and thickness, says Groffier.

The 2014 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses, from 80-year-old vines, includes 50% whole bunch fruit and is matured in 50% new oak. It is interesting to compare this with the Bonnes-Mares; this is perhaps more serious, a little more saturnine (which is unusual for this vineyard), with touches of cold flint tincturing the blackberry and blueberry aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, but there is real solidity here, the acidity well judged with a gentle grip on the saline finish. It clearly needs several years in bottle but it will be worth the wait.