1959 Musigny, Grand Cru, Bouchard Père & Fils, Burgundy
Critics reviews
As is often the case with '59s, the nose displays enough volatile acidity to notice, along with spice and heavy sous-bois. There is very good richness to the delicious medium-bodied flavours that are tiring and, while not heavy, no longer have the vibrancy that they undoubtedly once did. To be sure, this is still a good wine, but it's clearly declining.
A second bottle displayed a touch of funk on the nose but had better verve and detail than the first bottle, along with better overall balance. A third bottle appeared to have been reconditioned at some point, but that is speculation. In all three cases, however, the wine was good to very good but perhaps underwhelming for a great terroir and vintage. Tasted thrice with similar results over the past five years.
Drink now
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com (November 2015)
About this WINE
Bouchard Pere et Fils
The Burgundian wine domaine of Bouchard Pére et Fils can trace its origins back to 1731 though it is no longer family owned. In 1995 the Champagne house, Joseph Henriot, acquired the company and quality has risen as a consequence.
Today Bouchard is led by Stéphane Follin Arbelet while the wines are made by Philippe Prost who has been with the company since 1978. An impressive gravity-flow winery on the Route de Savigny, the Cuvérie St Vincent, was completed in 2005, enabling them, to process all their wines with optimum efficiency.
Bouchard’s total holdings comprise 130 hectares, including 12ha of grand crus and 74ha of premier crus, which makes them the largest vineyard owners in the Côte d’Or (Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune).
Bouchard have good holdings in the village of Monthélie, which lies just beyond Volnay and looks down over Meursault. The village is best known for its red wines, a little firmer in structure than Volnay and of particular interest in perfect summers when the grapes can ripen fully.
Chambolle Musigny
Chambolle produces the most elegant wines in the Côte de Nuits, having more active chalk and less clay in the soil than the other villages. The wines may be a little lighter in colour and less tannic than Gevrey-Chambertin but they have a sublime concentration of fruit. Village Chambolle-Musigny usually provides excellent value.
Le Musigny is one of the top half-dozen vineyards in Burgundy, producing wines of extraordinary intensity and yet with a magical velvety character. Les Amoureuses is immediately appealing, a wonderfully sensual wine which deserves Grand Cru status. Bonnes Mares tends to have a firmer structure and ages very well
- 94 hectares of village Chambolle-Musigny.
- 61 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (24 in all). The finest vineyards include Les Amoureuses, Les Charmes, Les Fuées, Les Baudes and Sentiers.
- 24 hectares of Grand Cru vineyard - Bonnes Mares and Le Musigny.
- Recommended producers: de Vogüé, Mugnier, Roumier, Barthod.
- Recommended restaurant: Le Chambolle
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.
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Description
Kindly be aware that owing to the bottle's age, its physical appearance may vary slightly from the depiction in the image.
As is often the case with '59s, the nose displays enough volatile acidity to notice, along with spice and heavy sous-bois. There is very good richness to the delicious medium-bodied flavours that are tiring and, while not heavy, no longer have the vibrancy that they undoubtedly once did. To be sure, this is still a good wine, but it's clearly declining.
A second bottle displayed a touch of funk on the nose but had better verve and detail than the first bottle, along with better overall balance. A third bottle appeared to have been reconditioned at some point, but that is speculation. In all three cases, however, the wine was good to very good but perhaps underwhelming for a great terroir and vintage. Tasted thrice with similar results over the past five years.
Drink now
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com (November 2015)
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