2011 Musigny, Grand Cru, Domaine de la Vougeraie, Burgundy
Critics reviews
Rather more evolution in the colour. There is some evidence of whole bunch vinification, full of fruit, but perhaps not as precise as Drouhin. There is a slight evolution on the nose, too. An impressively enjoyable palate, with length to boot, and the first signs of chocolate. Ready now. The bouquet cleans up later on, while the wine in the mouth delivers a fine balance between the fruit and acidity.
Jasper Morris MW, InsideBurgundy.com (July 2022)
The strikingly spicy and generously layered nose freely reveals its mix of red and dark berries, anise, tea and a plethora of floral influences. There is a highly beguiling mid-palate texture to the rich, sappy and mouthcoating flavours that conclude in a focused, powerful and dusty finale that leans out slightly as it lingers. This moderately austere effort is quite stylish with excellent length, and for my taste, it would benefit from another 4 to 7 years of keeping.
Drink from 2026 onward
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com (October 2022)
Mid ruby. Energetic, fruity nose. Good balance and richness. This wine has a real beginning, middle and end—a hint of orange peel and pure Musigny fruit. Everything is in place. Chapeau!
Drink 2021 - 2040
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (July 2022)
Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. The Musigny 2011 from Domaine de la Vougeraie has a more extravagant bouquet compared to Prieurs: ravishing blueberry and boysenberry jam on the nose, merging with crme de cassis and crushed violets, gaining more and more momentum with each swirl of the glass. The palate is very seductive with very supple tannins, wonderful acidity and huge weight on the finish without dispensing with one morsel of finesse. Outstanding.
Drink 2017 - 2040
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate (November 2014)
An impressive Musigny that combines polish, succulence and density. Its core is fleshed out with an appealing fruit lushness buttressed by refined tannins and fine-tuned acidity. Its seductive curves add real appeal, though the attractive savoury tones of forest floor and celery seed contribute to its depth and complexity. A lovely and serious wine. Vinified by the talented Pierre Vincent before he moved to Domaine Leflaive in 2017.
Drink 2024 - 2042
Robin Kick MW, Decanter.com (July 2022)
About this WINE
Domaine de la Vougeraie
Domaine de la Vougeraie is part of our Spotlight on sustainability series. You can view the full range here.
Domaine de la Vougeraie, based in Premeaux just south of Nuits St Georges, was created in 1999 when Jean-Claude Boisset of the Boisset group decided to group together all the vineyard holdings of his various negociant companies acquired over the years. The name comes from the significant holdings – and indeed Jean-Claude Boisset’s home – in the village of Vougeot. The winery is located however in the old Claudine Deschamps (Madame Jean-Claude Boisset) cellars in Prémeaux. The domaine was put together from the various vineyard holdings which had accrued through the Boisset acquisitions of Burgundian houses over the years. Pascal Marchand was put in charge in 1999, with Bernard Zito in the vineyards, which were farmed biodynamically. Pascal produced powerful wines, fairly heavily extracted in his early vintages but clearly was subsequently moving to a softer approach by 2004.
With nearly 40 hectares of vineyard and over 30 different appellations, including six grand crus (Musigny, Bonnes Mares, Clos Vougeot, Charmes Chambertin, Mazoyères, Corton Clos du Roi and Corton Charlemagne), this is one of Burgundy’s leading domaines.
No expense has been spared in production terms. The premier and grand cru vineyards are all farmed biodynamically with carefully limited yields. The cellar has been equipped with a battery of new or renovated wooden fermentation vats, a state of the art sorting table and a new model of the old fashioned vertical press which is thought to be the best option for red wines. The wines were made by Pascal Marchand of Comte Armand in Pommard, from 1999 to 2005 and subsequently by Pierre Vincent who has maintained the more delicate approach. The grapes are sorted on one of the longest tables de tri I have seen, before being given a cool pre-maceration. During fermentation Pierre punches down only once a day, much less than Pascal used to. The temperature is maintained at 26º-28ºC/79-81ºF after fermentation to polymerise the tannins and fix the colour. The Musigny is destemmed by hand. Starting in 2008 he has begun to experiment with some whole bunch fermentation, though only for a proportion of a given cuvée.
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.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Two thirds new wood is used to produce this wine and it is terrifically rich and sumptuous, yet completely noble on the nose. It is one of those wines that needs constant re-sniffing and it tastes like an absolutely complete wine that reflects the majesty of Musigny.
Pierre Vincent’s reputation has been blossoming over the last few vintages, as critic’s rate his wines increasingly highly and repeated success at the International Wine Challenge has been rewarded with the Len Evans Trophy for consistency over 5 years. Pierre is looking to major on delicacy while building persistence, to which end the new oak component is being reduced and the whole bunch fermentation percentage increased. The Vougeraie 2011s were picked over 12 days, beginning on the 31st August.
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