Chaptalisation is like adding that pinch of salt....

24th June 2016, at 32°C outside, the cool cellar of Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg was a welcome change. The inflorescence has now formed but the first budbreak has not happened yet in Bourgogne. Continued sunshine and warmth would be perfect, but every vigneron was dreading the hailstorm that was predicted to arrive later in the evening, that would threaten to decimate the crop, especially after the ravages of late April frost. Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg had already lost 99% of their Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes to frost. It was difficult to imagine how hail could materialize when all we could see was ferocious heat and bright blue sky.


We were received by Marie-Andrée at Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg. The domaine was created in 1933 upon the marriage of Jeanne Gibourg and André Mugneret. Georges Mugneret was their only son, a trained ophthalmologist, who kept his medical career going while being involved in the family profession. He met his wife Jacqueline while serving in Algeria. Marie-Andrée and Marie-Christine, her elder sister of 9 years, took over the domaine when their father passed away prematurely in 1988, after having finished the vinification for that vintage. Marie-Andrée was still at school then and she formally joined her sister a few years later, in 1992. The two sisters share responsibilities in the winery, for example bottling is Marie-Christine’s sole responsibility and Marie-Andrée fiercely defends her chaptalisation responsibility. According to Marie-Andrée, chaptalisation is like adding a pinch of salt when baking. It adds a certain dimension to the taste but it is inconspicuous on the palate. For her, chaptalisation is vital for the balance of wine, adding between 0.2 – 0.5% abv, religiously every year. An exception is 2009 when there was so much phenolic and sugar ripeness that no further adjustment was necessary. The culinary comparison does not stop here: Marie-Andrée assures us that adding sugar to fermenting must creates a most enticing aroma.


In the vineyards, they prefer la lutte raisonné, instead of definitively going down the route of organic, to be assured of a safe and healthy crop. For example, in 2013, they had to spray herbicide against flavescence dorée, and in 2016, they had to spray against mildew. However, in 2015, with such fine and warm weather, no chemical products needed to be used.


We tasted a range of 2014 of their wines. Flowering was early in 2014, happening at end May (unlike end June this year), summer began hot but a big hailstorm wreaked havoc on the last Saturday of June, affecting mostly Pommard, Volnay, Savigny. August remained cold (that the heating had to be switched on). Fine weather returned beginning of September and they were able to harvest around 20th September.


The domaine’s maximum production is around 120 barrels, but on average it’s around 100 barrels, with some vintage variations, such as 68 barrels in 2012, 102 barrels in 2014 and 90 barrels in 2015.

 

We tasted Vosne-Romanée village (from the climats of La Croix Blanche, Au Bas Combe, La Colombière and Les Chalandins), Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Chaignots, Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes, Echezeaux (50% from Les Rouges du Bas climat which brought minerality, and 50% from Les Quartiers de Nuits which contributed power, like in Clos Vougeot), Ruchottes-Chambertin (Ruchottes du Bas) and finally Clos Vougeot. The Ruchottes-Chambertin was a very elegant balance between finesse and power, with just perfect concentration. The domaine bought this parcel in 1953 and replanted in 1954. The Clos Vougeot seemed more austere with a firmer structure, having come from vines over 60 years of age. The family had owned another parcel of Clos Vougeot previously and Georges was given some large formats from the 1929 vintage. This parcel was subsequently sold. The 1929 Clos Vougeot was such a great wine that Georges decided to purchase a parcel of Clos Vougeot located in the Montiotes Hautes climat, while still in medical school then.


The last jeroboam from the glorious 1929 vintage was drunk last year on the occasion of Jacqueline’s 80th birthday.

 

Marie-Andree explaining to us that it's the family tradition to taste the Clos Vougeot after Ruchottes-Chambertin

We then tasted a few 2015’s from barrel. We tasted Echezeaux, Ruchottes-Chambertin and Clos Vougeot. The last two were particularly impressive, with such freshness, concentration and character than the 2014 vintage. They seemed such complete wines at the moment, that they would be rather sensational with some bottle age. In 2015, the natural alcohol was between 12.5 abv and 13.2% abv.

The domaine uses 4 coopers for their different characters.


The wines all showed distinct expression of terroir, with beautiful balance, silky texture, refined tannins and subtle power for the Grand Cru wines. This is a domaine that delivers consistently and produces some really beautiful and expressive and harmonious wines. 2015 clearly showed a big step up on 2014! Do not miss the Ruchottes and Clos Vougeot when released en primeur.


NB. The hailstorm predicted for 24 June did not materialize to the relief of all vignerons. Instead, we had a furious rainstorm that lasted all night.