The first wine whose nose is a little tight. Round with plenty of structure – actually quite mineral. Faint hints of coconut on a very long finish. Far from ‘facile’ Charmes…
Grand
2009 Vougeraie Musigny
Only 700 bottles of this, I’m lucky because a few samples are hand as it’s just being bottled – otherwise it’s not opened. For the first time there are a few stems retained in this. This is also a little tight but shows perfect red berry fruit. Despite what’s gone before, here is another level of concentration and hot on its heel, intensity too. Balanced and cushioned yet somehow everything registers a notch higher than the other wines – I wonder how they do that…(!)
2008 Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes-Mares
We really have the juice of the fruit here says François Millet. Here is a deep, concentrated core of darker-red fruit – the nose seems almost ‘smooth’. The smell of the last drops in the glass are super-gorgeous. A little more structure but it’s super-fine and concentrated. A beautiful core of fruit that goes long into the finish.
2008 Comte Georges de Vogüé Musigny Vieilles Vignes
The aromas have much more in common with the premier cru (unsurprisingly) with a mix of mineral and musk together with a subtle rose perfume, eventually a white pepper accent too. Once more there is a wealth of very fine tannin which is slowly overtaken by a beam of gorgeous pure fruit that then becomes rounder. A long fruit-dominated finish that even has a dash of orange. Clearly ‘special’.