When my buddy AS called me to tell me he was going to host a 1998 Musigny horizontal I was somehow not surprised because that is the kind of tasting I expected from this guy. After all he's always up to something trying to pull off some of the cleverest and craziest tasting themes. But as I put down the phone and recalled the line up he was preparing, I suddenly realised this would be one heck of a tasting, especially when considering all the 1998 Musignys would have come from his cellar save for one bottle. That in itself is quite a feat of collecting diligence and not to mention generosity. Minutes later, I was clicking away online and booking myself a ticket. To Jakarta, please!
Indonesia, with its restrictive alcohol import laws and murky regulations for just about anything that requires customs and immigration clearance, seems quite an unlikely place where the world's foremost wines may on occasions be showcased. Still, some of my most memorable tastings actually took place in Jakarta, this vast nation's capital and economic epicentre. The sophistication level of the wine community I have met is not only world class, it is enviably pretty much in the league of creme de la creme. Perhaps it is the fact that it is already so difficult to bring wines into the country, that the general mentality has been to just go all out for the top stuff since they have to go through the same trouble anyway. A perfectly understandable attitude given the circumstances if you ask me.
Still the city's select groups of crazy winos are a painstakingly discreet bunch. The 'showcase' of the finest wines are most of the time a private, small-group affair. I have known of impromptu lunches where Le Pin, Petrus, first growths of the fifties and sixties, Henri Jayer's Echezeaux and Cros Parantoux, Coche Dury's Corton Charlemagnes... were regularly shared with joyful abandon but savoured with passionate respect by these winos. And we are not even talking about organized tastings yet!
Many of my most privileged wine tastings took place in the Miele House in Jakarta. Tasting at the Miele House is always a meticulously executed exercise with the spotlight on the wines alone. As a matter of fact, this is the same spirit we try to emulate when we conceptualised Artisan Cellars' showroom space. And the tasting format we choose also follows the same practice in the Miele House: one wine in one glass (so we can savour its development for as long as the tasting lasts), cool serving temperature and faultlessly bright lights. Every tasting there is an occasion to look forward to.
There are countless figures of speech about the wines of Musigny, as well as notable quotes from prominent characters who waxed lyrical over the virtues and beauty of a glass of Musigny. To many a glass of Musigny is the epitome of the sublime seduction of burgundy. Too many wine writers ascribe the highest praises for the wine of this land, some even going as far as arguing that this may be the most gifted piece of dirt throughout Côte d'Or, producing wines that combine profound power, exquisite delicacy, supreme complexity and irreproachable finesse. I for one, in the spirit of good conscience, cannot possibly disagree with the lofty praises sung for the wines of Musigny because many of the most intoxicating and ravishing wines I had tasted happen to bear this vineyard's label on them. This is a feat that cannot be underestimated considering that this grand cru (a) is not a terribly small parcel of land, by burgundy's standards at least, (b) is tended by more than just a handful of wine producers and (c) churns out consistently top performances relative to the vintage, year after year. In my view, the grand cru Musigny is the most gifted non-monopole (i.e., not single domaine owned) terroir for red burgundies, a vineyard perfectly capable of (and have often proved itself to) producing red wines that are aristocratic, complete and evocative of extreme passion. In fact, the genius of Musigny is not only the collective opinion of burgundy fanatics and expert wine aficionados. Domaines who produce Musigny almost always consider their Musigny as the class of their cellar. All these observations cannot be a mere coincidence.
The Musigny grand cru consists of 10.7 ha of land and in recent record these are the modern day domaines that make its wine: Comte de Vogüé, J. F. Mugnier, Jacques Prieur, Joseph Drouhin, Leroy, de la Vougeraie, Louis Jadot, Drouhin-Laroze, Roumier, Dufouleur Frères, Christian Confuron, Faiveley and Monthelie-Douhairet-Porcheret. The grand cru can be subdivided further into three subclimats: Les Musigny, Les Petits-Musigny and a late addition of an adjoining parcel of the premier cru La Combe d'Orveau (since 1936). Comte de Vogüé is the largest owner of Musigny, controlling about 70% of the total land which includes the monopoly of Les-Petits-Musigny subclimat. Jacques Prieur owns the La Combe d'Orveau subclimat.
The 1998 vintage for red burgundies was first received with mixed reactions by the wine press. One famous American wine publication totally wrote off the vintage, refusing to review wines from this vintage, which, in my opinion, is a gross and an unnecessarily silly mistake. A few others were cautious, and only one (Allen Meadows) was pretty upbeat. As it turned out, like many aspects of judging and appreciating Burgundy, the vintage went through awkward stages of development especially in the beginning as it started out rather austere before it stabilised and eases itself off as a nicely rounded red burgundy vintage overall, albeit not without proviso. One has to always remember that the 1998 vintage was not a generously blessed vintage by any measure, and only with the best producers can one find top quality. But when one encounters a good 1998, they would be gratified by its wines: concentrated, harmonious, pure burgundies many of which are, surprisingly, drinking quite well already. What's more these wines would enjoy a relatively long plateau at its peak. To my observation it is also a vintage where Chambolle-Musigny as an appellation shone above the others as they tend not to be plagued by a drying or sometimes unclean finish which may appear in many of its neighbours' wines.
When we arrived at the Miele House earlier that evening, the table was already set with eight burgundy glasses each seat, in two rows of four, corresponding to the two flights that the wine would be served. Just before we sat down, a lone glass was added to the eight for the apéritif white wine, served blind. I was seated next to TA, one of the most serious and attentive Indonesian taster I've ever met, and NP, a burgundian winemaker whose favourite wine is – without question and as unabashedly declared by himself – Musigny. The Musigny wine is also incidentally one that he has yet to make in spite of the impressive array of top grand crus he has been producing ever since he started making wines.
The white wine apéritif was very ripe and heady with lemon-infused, buttery, wild-yeast fermentation aromas of popcorn-oil as well as some charred toast. Yet in the mouth this wine displayed finesse and delicacy in spite of an energetic thrust and an oily texture. This had to be a Puligny grand cru, I thought. Immensely forceful, this wine finished with an almost tannic structure. Quite alcoholic for an '04 but finished, true-to-form, with a whiplash of malic acidity. Personally I would have preferred a more delicate and linear style, but there is no denying that this is a tour-de-force representation of the chardonnay grapes the like of which cannot be found outside of the best sites in Côte-de-Beaune. This was revealed to be 2004 Louis Jadot, Chevalier-Montrachet "les Demoiselles" (93 points). A lovely start to the evening.
The first flight's four wines were now ready to be tasted. The 1998 Jacques Prieur, Musigny carried off a high-toned, macerated cherries nose with citric hints that reminded me of vitamin-C tablets – rather pretty actually. The wine was fleshy and quite spirit-like. Although still quite sturdy, my trouble with this wine was that it lacked immediate natural sweetness one expects from the terroir. Unfortunately after a little bit of airing, the wine showed signs of tiring and eventually put on a slightly medicinal and herbaceous overtone. There must be better bottles than this because when I first tasted this wine not long after it was released what I tasted then should not have lead to what I was tasting tonight... (88? points).
Like many other '98 red burgundies, 1998 Joseph Drouhin, Musigny already began to give off delicious truffley secondary top-notes floating over elegantly scented blackberries. This came across immediately sweeter and as possessing a lot more volume than the Prieur bottling earlier. Still, there was a sense of slight wooly mouthfeel around the edges (and I noted the same for their 1999 and I don't consider this a flaw, by the way.) Quite a fine Musigny that is just missing out on the final finesse factor. Interestingly, this evolved to continue to give off floral aromatic hints, turning gentler, sweeter and more alluring. Maturing now already and a very pretty wine (91 points).
1998 Louis Jadot, Musigny took the flight into a different space. It started out with a slight reduction on the nose which gave way to smoke and meat aromas. I found this still sullen and quite hard to assess, but lurking underneath the shell was a muscular rendition of this famous terroir. In the mouth this wine played out its earlier impression consistently, delivering powerful flavours full of dry extracts and intense sweetness, driven by an immense acid-backbone energy. Finished off with rather dusty and muscular tannins. This baby still needed a lot more time, because as the night progressed, the wine turned more integrated and oilier in texture with exotic hints of bacon-fat. A brooding, punch-in-the-gut Musigny that remained cool and collected in spite of all the power (92+ points).
I approached the wine with a slight apprehension. It was a privilege, no matter how one looks at it, to be able to enjoy a bottle out of approximately 125 bottles produced each year of the 1998 Faiveley, Musigny. The only worry I had was that it might be extremely unfriendly at this stage like many other youthful Faiveleys I've had. But I was glad my worries are unfounded as soon as I dived into this wine. Wow, what a gorgeous nose! This wine was actually rather harmonious already. Exotic aromatics of dried rose petals and delicious currant-like fruits, complicated by a little truffley hint. Very majestic in the mouth as well, with an awesome presence and gentle rush of waves and layers of intense currant and black raspberry fruits – the same sense of presence that I normally would only get in DRC's wines, so this is clearly greatness in a glass. Continued on effortlessly, putting on more gentleness yet at the same time increased intensity, with complex spice and dark chocolate much later on with an ethereal weightlessness (95 points). A great, great wine, and an exemplary Musigny.
The next flight was prequeled by a bottle which AS intentionally served blind as an intermission before we move on to the next set of Musigny. Many of us got a dizzy spell once we nosed this wine – for both its aromatics and from the mess of trains of thoughts for guessing what this wine might be. There were hints of stalkiness here unlike the previous wines, with cool cherry liqueur nose. Quite delicate and pretty in the mouth, showing a clear and succulent minerality of Chambolle-Musigny's terroir which is often overlooked. Hints of licorice came on later, with a mildly bitter pit-fruit finish which I have come to associate with this producer ever since. Finished with a dustiness which I personally found a little too noticeable, giving an impression of four-squareness hence swaying my guess to the other grand cru, Bonnes Mares. The rest of the table loved this wine though, as it embodied a purity of the feminine charm that got them hooked into Burgundy in the first place. Unveiled to be 1998 Georges Roumier, Chambolle-Musigny "les Amoureuses" (92 points).
Now back to the second flight of wines already poured by this time. The 1998 Comte de Vogüé, Musigny Vielles Vignes was full blown with the tell-tale creamy cherries nose I always associate with the domaine's wine, with suggestions of mocha and brown spices interspersed among redolent raspberry fruits. A touch of toasty new wood was still noticeable but it was never disturbing. The palate was a direct continuation of the nose. Full, ripe and luscious, this wine was hard not to like. Notes of licorice, dark chocolates and plummy fruits emerged later. In spite of the late darker aromas and flavours, this wine's energy never stopped keeping it interesting. As impressive as it always has been (94 points).
I have often remarked that it is possible to know a great wine simply by the nose. Great wines always have an indescribably multidimensional fragrance that, irrespective of its origin and grape type, always manage to create that mix of ethereal fruits and head-spinning savour of flowers, herbs, confectioneries and other earthy notes. I call it simply: "The Nose".
Okay, to cut the long story short, the 1998 Jacques-Frederic Mugnier, Musigny has "The Nose". And it has it in spades: dense yet airy aromas mixing violets, soy, damp earth, crushed crystalline dark cherries... I only took one sniff at it and in two seconds exclaimed to everyone, "This has to be a GREAT wine!" In fact, I thought if I were denied taking a sip of it, I would be just as happy nosing this the whole night, I thought. Right? Well, let's just say that I'm glad I wasn't stupid enough to stop short there because the palate too was incredible. Sweet, cool, airy, totally weightless and like the essence of burgundy. The texture confirmed its greatness: utterly spherical, silky and weaving delicate inner mouth perfume. When tasting wine like this the usually study of a wine's finish becomes an irrelevant exercise because with such a seamless interlace of flavour and perfume in the mouth there is no full stop in the finish of this wine. I could smell and taste this wine long after I spat (or swallowed) it. A numbingly good wine (96 points).
After such a performance the 1998 Leroy, Musigny had a tough act to follow. The wine sported a classic Leroy nose of stalky flowers, dark raspberries and currants. Equally perfumed in the mouth this shot straight with honest sweetness and almost candied fruits. After aeration, this picked up more freshness and shed its initial stalky fragrance. Very persistently sweet with palate-staining weight. Though excellently made this never quite approached the ethereal height of Mugnier's genius of a version (93 points).
A few additions came on board at this point. So now we taste the "++" selection beyond the 1998 Moose...
A bottle of 1990 Comte Georges de Vogüé, Musigny Vielles Vignes was poured next. It had been reported that in spite of the excellent vintage, this iconic domaine failed to produce quality one would typically associate with its name and vineyard. Well, this bottle for what it's worth could not disprove the skeptics, myself included, tonight. The wine came across as somewhat abrasive and loosely held together. And while possessing good power, this had almost no sweetness of fruits. A combination of bad bottle and less-than-stellar vintage performance perhaps? (NOT RATED)
AP who rushed to join us after his dinner appointment was visibly disappointed by the lacklustre showing of the 1990 de Vogüé. Anyway, all of us concurred that we were still hungry, so we called for a large take-away portion of nasi goreng kambing (mutton fried rice). AP called his helper at home to pull out a bottle of 2001 Leroy, Musigny to deliver to the Miele House. We were busy chowing down deliciously savoury spoonfuls of the fried rice but a hush of murmurs instantly fell on the table as soon as the bottle arrived. AS told me once that Leroy's 2001 Musigny was one of the greatest young wines he had ever tasted and so I consider myself warned. Still I could not imagine how this may stack up against the brilliance of Mugnier's tonight.
My skepticism was very quickly dispelled. As soon as the wine was poured, an ethereal effusive fragrance was instantly release to overwhelm the olfactory. An even more airy perfume, with a complex flowery array of violets and rose petals, deeply pitched wild red fruits, incisive notes of minerality and earth so deftly etched in the whole package it felt like I was sniffing vapourised nectar of le Musigny. The taste was nothing short of mindbending too: intensely sweet with beguiling weightlessness, round and silky in texture, with incipient sappiness and illuminating acidity not discernible on the Mugnier's. The finish was once again irrelevant, but yes if it must be told, it was endless with a curiously mouthwatering citric lift at the very back end. Utterly and effortlessly sweet, in fact, sweeter than Mugnier's, something I thought would not be possible tonight. Totally pure and sensuous, this made me a believer of Leroy's genius at work once again. I looked at NP. He leaned back on his seat, transfixed and stared back at me with that "are-you-kidding-me-what-kind-of-wine-is-this" look. I think I could read his thoughts. I grinned back, and we both shook our head in unison. What an unreal wine (97 points)! And a perfect ending to yet another experience of a lifetime.
What can I say now but my big thank you to my Jakarta friends for staging this massive showdown and for inviting me to join in this occasion? I hope this little recollection would do the wines justice. Rest assured they were sipped with a gladful heart, a wanting palate, and a reverential respect for one of the greatest wines of them all: vive le Musigny!
