The 2005’s of Mischief & Mayhem

Update 11.3.2010(20.3.2007)billn

A short visit where I was tolerated, indeed (I have to say) welcomed despite the late hour in the day. Michael Ragg was his usual professional and friendly self and presented a few interesting additions to the Mischief and Mayhem portfolio for 2005.

All in all, M&M have considerably expanded their offer; there are 24 wines in 2007. There are 3 ‘house wines’ – a Bourgogne Chardonnay, a Bourgogne Pinot Noir and a Chablis – all three were bottled in July 2006 and tasted here. For the 2004 vintage their offer was heavily white wine biased, but that reflected the quality of the barrels at their disposal, for vintage 2005 they are much more balanced. I tasted only a small selection but can confirm that these wines are made in a nicely transparent way that highlights the cuvée rather than ‘up-front’ fruit or oak. I was a little late to buy any of their excellent 2004’s but I’m a buyer of 2005’s.For the record, this is their range of 2005’s:
White Wines

  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Meursault
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Meursault 1er Cru Charmes
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Meursault 1er Cru Poruzots
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Champs Gain
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Red Wines

  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Gevrey-Chambertin
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Volnay
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Savigny-Les-Beaune 1er Cru Les Peuillets
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Beaune 1er Cru Marconnets
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Pommard 1er Cru
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Poissenots
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Petits-Monts
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Corton Bressandes Grand Cru
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
  • 2005 Mischief and Mayhem Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru
2005 Mischief & Mayhem, Meursaulttry to find this wine...
The nose is high-toned and fresh with a faint citrus edge. If the nose doesn’t quite shout ‘Meursault’, the palate is fully flavoured with excellent Meursault dimension. This classy and concentrated wine is fresher than many 2005’s and heartily recommended.
2005 Mischief & Mayhem, Meursault 1er Genevrièrestry to find this wine...
A fresh nose that is initially a little less focused than the villages wine that precedes it, but gets better and better in the glass as it warms. The palate is rich and powerful but is nicely cut by the citrussy acidity, expanding quite well in the mid-palate. Today – and it hasn’t been bottled long – it has all the pieces to be a very fine wine but the cohesion, despite some balance, seemed a little unconvincing. I’m sure this will be super and probably already more ‘together’ by the time you read this.
2005 Mischief & Mayhem, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Les Cailleretstry to find this wine...
The nose starts wide but subdued and a little unfocused, it takes a good 15 minutes in the glass before we have cohesion and a primary, quite dense stance. There’s a lovely texture to the palate and a real extra dimension helped by just a little petillance and super acidity. It takes roughly the same 15 minutes (as required for the nose to improve) for the faint spritz to die – perhaps it was also affecting the aromatics. Now we have poise and from the mid-palate onwards, waves and waves of attack – wow – this will be (is) superb. For those that are concerned about oxidation, note that about a glass and a half were left in the simply stoppered bottle for about 3 days – the wine was almost as good then as at the start – not a hint of oxidation. I rarely go for more than a six-pack of any wine, but I ordered 12 of these!
2005 Mischief & Mayhem, Gevrey-Chambertintry to find this wine...
The nose is wide with a deep and interesting fruit centre, it’s faintly peppery with a pinch of Gevrey earth too – give it time and it becomes fuller and also gives glimpses of red fruits. The palate is wide and with good concentration. There are plenty mildly grainy tannins grabbing the inside of your mouth, but this is a forward forward ripe and nice wine which can easily balance the structure. Certainly not the most elegant, but fun!
2005 Mischief & Mayhem, Vosne-Romanée 1er Petits-Montstry to find this wine...
The understated nose majors on caramel/toffee notes at the start and actually takes close to one hour before it starts to release redder elements and provide a more ‘whole’ and interesting aromatic profile. On the palate this wine has been a little upset by the recent bottling – it starts in wild and disparate fashion, exciting but a little clunky. One hour later we have balance and interest – the main interest for me is the character of the wine; it’s wild, complex and a little grainy textured – there is just so much going on. But where is the elegance of other producer’s Petits-Monts? This is more like a ‘down and dirty’ Malconsorts – a good Malconsorts by the way! Don’t take that as too much of a criticism – I still bought some!

Agree? Disagree? Anything you'd like to add?

There is one response to “The 2005’s of Mischief & Mayhem”

  1. Simon Smith8th July 2007 at 10:32 amPermalinkReply

    Bill,
    I’ve read with interest your articles on M+M. On a recent visit to Burgundy we arranged a tasting with Michael and Fiona. We had very warm welcome and a fantastic tasting. I was really impressed by the quality of all the wines from the Bourgogne red and white up to the 1er and Grand crus. As you have mentioned previously, they really over deliver.
    Thanks for the recommendation and a great website.
    Regards,
    Simon.

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