Wine Advisor
Jacques Frederic Mugnier, Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2012
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2012 Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru has an expressive bouquet of joyous red currant and pomegranate scents that join in the chorus line of raspberry and wild strawberry, all underpinned by the Bonnes-Mares joie-de-vivre. The palate is medium-bodied, linear, focused with very fresh acidity and a structured, intense finish that bears semblance to many top 2010s. It is three years since I last visited Frederic Mugnier at his impressive ivy-clad maison in Chambolle that seems to rule the roost in the clustered village. This is a producer whose wines, I must confess, I was indifferent to when I began tasting Burgundy wine. For sure, there were plenty of plaudits. However, with the odd exception, I could not engage with the wines and was not overly keen on how they evolved in bottle. As the years have rolled by, I have appreciated the wines more and more. Has my palate changed? I do not think so. Rather, Frederic has fine-tuned and adapted his approach and I sense he feels more comfortable and confident in his practices. We had a frank interchange about new oak. Nowadays he has reduced the percentage to about 15%, even for the Musigny Grand Cru. Could he envisage not using new oak at all in the future? Frederic said it could be possible and he seemed wary of unclean elements that may lurk inside new barrels and affect the purity of wines. As such, the more classical, refined style of Pinot Noir suits Mugnier to the ground. I adored the subtlety, freshness and precision of these nascent 2012s that at their peak constitute some of the finest wines of the vintage. The following wines were all tasted from used barrels in September 2013. Importer: Becky Wasserman Selection (Le Serbet) and through various US importers (see www.leserbet.com for full list.)
About the Producer
Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier is a Burgundian wine producer based in Chambolle-Musigny. It is particularly well-known for its Musigny Grand Cru wine which is regarded as a benchmark for that vineyard. While the estate is most closely associated with Pinot Noir wines from Chambolle-Musigny, it has 10 hectares (25 acres) of vineyards in Nuits-Saint-Georges as well. The Château de Chambolle-Musigny has been owned by the Mugnier family since 1863. From 1950, as there was no winemaker in the family, the vineyards were contracted out to Faiveley and Bruno Clair, with the latter selling the wine in bulk. Between 1985 and 2004, Frédéric Mugnier was able to take back the vineyards as leases expired. On top of the Musigny Grand Cru, Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier makes a wine from the Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru vineyard, as well as two premier cru wines, Les Fuées and Les Amoureuses, and a village-level wine. From the Nuits-Saint-Georges holdings, Mugnier makes a Clos des Fourches premier cru wine, and a red and a white premier cru from the Clos de la Maréchale vineyard, which is a monopole of the domaine. Vineyards are farmed without herbicides or pesticides and just two mildew treatments per year. Grapes are de-stemmed and whole berries are fermented in old open wooden vats. After around 16 months in oak, wines are bottled without fining and filtration.
