MMMMMMMMugneret-Gibourg at Blue Hill

What a lovely and somewhat raucous night in the private room at Blue Hill to enjoy many bottlings of the great 1990's from the estate of Mugneret-Gibourg. This has to be one of my favorite estates in the Cote de Nuits. They have great holdings in Chambolle, Vosne, Nuits St Georges and a wonderful trio of Grand Crus. Echezeaux, Ruchottes, and perhaps the finest Clos Vougeot in all of the Cote. The main basis of this dinner was a horizontal tasting of all their 1990's plus a few bonus wines. The food was excellent as usual at Blue Hill but maybe not as inspired as it has been on previous occasions but that is nitpicking. What can I say, I am a nitpicker. The first flight started off with the 1990 Mugneret-Gibourg Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru "Feusselotes" which was a lovely wine drinking at maturity I would say. Aromas of cherries, spice with a slight touch of maderization that only added complexity and did not take away from the wine. Nice silky texture and great freshness due to the excellent acidity. No 90'itis here. This was a nice wine albeit not a profoundly overpowering wine. Solid and I would very happy to drink it. This was contrasted with the 2002 Mugneret-Gibourg Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru "Feusselottes" which was a much higher quality wine than the 1990. This stuff was just singing tonight. Extremley high-toned floral nose that hit all the right spots. Pure, cherry, black cherry, mineral and a cacophany of complex floral notes that went into Krazor land after it had been properly aerated in my glass for about an hour and half. The palate was creamy and ripe with good weight and extremeley impressive depth. Great concentration and length with excellent flavor hierarchy. Lovely stuff and has a ways to go to reach its apogeee.

The next flight consisted of two 1990 Nuits St. Georges that could not have been more different. Up first was the 1990 Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru "Chaignots" which was okay but ultimately dissapointing in the context of all the other wines that were being poured. The Chaignots had a nice nose of Vosne-like spice, some dark cherry fruit and a hint of chestnut and mint. The palate was very broad and seemed to lack focus. Kind of a little 1990'itis and maybe this wine was just starting to crack up. Slightly messy stuff. But no worries as the 1990 Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits. St. Georges 1er Cru "Vignes Rondes" was fantastic and left the Chaignots in its dust. Nose of wintergreen mint, chestnut, black fruits and earthy minerals. Lovely secondary notes. The aromas seemed very secondary and developed but without losing any cut and focus. Lovely stuff. Big, rich palate with lovely concentration, juicy dark Nuits fruit and great purity. A chewy yet elegant wine. Easy to like and I did.

The final flight was the Grand Cru flight. Started off with the 1990 Mugneret Gibourg Echezeaux which was very good but really did not sing for me . . . or blow me away! Ha! But seriously folks the Echezeaux had a lovely nose of earth, spice and some cherry fruit. The palate was a touch less focused but with good grip and concentration. The acidity was very high which hinted acidification to me. The acid also hit me in my cheeks which is always a dead giveaway of false acid. It just seemed ho-hum to me but many other attendees did comment it got better towards the end of the night. I was not one of those attendees. The next wine was the 1990 Mugneret Gibourg Ruchottes Chambertin and this was a lovely bottle. Great nose you could sink your teeth into. The meatiness of Ruchottes was in full glory. Besided meat there was mint, cherry, earth, old shed, dust and fresh spring day aromas. Really great nose and next to the 2002 Feusselotes the nose of the night for me. A complete wine on the palate with excellent cut and precision and loads of concentration and detailed sweet fruits. Oh man was this good and had nary a trace of the dreaded 90'itis. This could go for a while longer. The piece de resistance to end the Mugneret-Gibourgathon was the 1990 Mugneret-Gibourg Clos Vougeot. This was some sexy Clos Vougeot. Complex nose of spice, cardamon, clove, dark black fruits, some old oak, sawdust and wet earth. Palate was explosive with great purity and a lovely granular-like texture. Fruit kept pumping hard on the finish and my palate was soaked. This showed lovely elegance and was big but incredibly refined which is hard to do in Clos Vougeot. Bad Clos Vougeot seems gritty and broad. This was classy and refined as it was a good, no, great Clos Vougeot.

The final wine of the evening was the 1989 Huet Vouvray "Cuvee Constance" which I was very excited to try. It was closed, awkward and weird. There was nice botrytis development as the nose was praline, dusty spicey earth, marmalade and almonds. The palate was kind of blah-zay with not much going on and turned in on itself. Nice wine for sure with a killer finish and good acidity and freshness but give this 50 years and check back. Full bottle too. Maybe would be a touch more developed in a 1/2 bottle.

And finally thanks to the Philles fan who put this all on.