A broad look at Chambolle-Musigny 2015 and older, built around Premier and Grand Crus and tasted blind. The tasting was a good reminder of just how elusive Chambolle can be. Several wines were still closed or structurally tight, and not every bottle delivered the perfume, sweetness and weightless seductiveness one associates with the appellation at its best. Some had plenty of substance but little charm, while others showed beautiful aromatics but lacked the depth to become truly great. The broader conclusion was that Chambolle is not necessarily an appellation where hierarchy alone tells you what will deliver the most pleasure – as always in Burgundy, it’s producer first.
When everything came together, however, the wines were superb. The best combined pure red and blue fruit, florality, minerality and fine herbal notes with an incredibly silky, almost weightless structural frame. That combination of concentration without heaviness was the common thread running through my favorite wines. The 2012 Vougeraie Bonnes-Mares was the clearest example for me: intensely perfumed, seductive and complete, but still incredibly fine and effortless. The 2008 Drouhin-Laroze Musigny was similarly impressive, perhaps even more filigree, although a touch of volatility on the nose kept it just behind. The group winner was the 2013 Barthod Les Charmes with 10 votes, followed by the 2008 Drouhin-Laroze Musigny with 9. The 2015 de Vogue Musigny and 2012 de la Vougeraie Bonnes-Mares shared third place with 8 votes each. The 2002 Barthod Les Fuees also performed very strongly with 7 votes.
Group Ranking
Rank / Wine / Vintage / Votes*
1. Ghislaine Barthod Les Charmes 2013 / 10
2. Drouhin-Laroze Musigny Grand Cru 2008 / 9
3. Comte Georges de Vogue Musigny Grand Cru 2015 / 8
3. Domaine de la Vougeraie Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 2012 / 8
5. Ghislaine Barthod Les Fuees 2002 / 7
6. Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru 2015 / 6
7. Ghislaine Barthod Les Charmes 2010 / 5
8. Bruno Clair Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 2012 / 4
9. Robert Groffier Les Amoureuses 2013 / 3
10. Robert Groffier Les Amoureuses 2014 / 2
10. Ghislaine Barthod Les Chatelots 2015 / 2
12. Hubert Lignier Les Chabiots 2014 / 1
13. Robert Groffier Les Sentiers 2015 / 0
13. Bruno Clair Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 2009 / 0
13. A. Lachaux Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru 2013 / 0
* Each participant voted for his top 5 wines of the night.
Tasting Notes
Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru 2015 – 92+pts
TN: Medium expressive on the nose, with fine toasty notes and dark red fruit. The palate is more concentrated and structured, with dark red and darker fruit at the core. There is good substance, but the wine is still rather tight and does not yet have the depth or charm of the best examples in the tasting. It should benefit from more time for the structure to soften and the mid-palate to fill out.
Domaine Hubert Lignier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Chabiots 2014 – 89pts
TN: Muted on the nose and equally closed on the palate. Cola, mint and minerality are present, but the fruit has either retreated or never really comes forward. Structurally sound, but there is not enough sweetness or charm to make it compelling today.
Domaine Robert Groffier Pere & Fils Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Sentiers 2015 – 91pts
TN: Some Pinot perfume and dark red fruit on the nose, although not especially expressive. More open on the palate, with dark red berries, cola, coffee, minerality, herbs and a faint smoky note. Nicely rounded and without any obvious fault, but it misses a little sweetness, charm and depth to move to the next level.
Domaine Robert Groffier Pere & Fils Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2014 – 90pts
TN: Deep and dark on the nose, but still rather closed. There is plenty of concentration on the palate and the tannins are impressively fine, yet very little fruit or charm is showing today. Some blue-fruited hints and minerality emerge with air, but the wine remains tight and difficult to read. Serious underlying material, but not much pleasure at this stage.
Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Musigny Grand Cru 2008 – 96pts
TN: A little muted on the nose, with a slight volatile lift, but the palate is absolutely beautiful. Pure red-fruited Pinot, minerality and fine herbal notes come together in an incredibly delicate, filigree frame. So round, so fine and almost weightless, with wonderful harmony and finesse. The nose holds it back slightly today, but the palate is superb.
Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue Musigny Grand Cru 2015 – 94pts
TN: Darker in profile, with some oak still showing on the nose and dark cherry fruit underneath. Much prettier on the palate, with red berries, minerality, cola, herbs and hints of coffee. There is serious concentration and length, yet the wine remains relatively light on its feet. Stylistically a little modern for me and the tannins are still slightly firm, but clearly a very serious wine.
Domaine de la Vougeraie Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 2012 – 96+pts
TN: Beautiful from the first sniff, bursting with pure red-fruited Pinot perfume. The palate is superbly round, elegant and seductive, with vivid red berries, floral notes, minerality, a touch of candy, cola and fine herbs. Everything is beautifully integrated into a silky, effortless frame. Intense and concentrated, yet completely weightless. So elegant, so harmonious and so complete. My wine of the tasting.
As usual, the tasting was held at Mère Catherine
Domaine Bruno Clair Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 2012 – 93pts
TN: Deeper and more powerful in style, with plenty of substance but still not fully open. The palate is broader and more muscular than the wines before it, yet remains perfumed, with floral hints, fine minerality and a rounded texture. Serious material here, but still somewhat restrained and in need of more time to reveal its full complexity.
Domaine Bruno Clair Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 2009 – 90pts
TN: Dense and full on the nose. The palate shows coffee, toffee, darker red fruit and slightly raisiny notes, with a rather modern, showy feel. There is plenty of impact, but the fruit lacks purity and the cellar influence feels too dominant. More seductive than precise, and ultimately missing the freshness and finesse of the best wines here.
Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuees 2002 – 94pts
TN: Beautiful Pinot perfume on the nose. The palate is lifted and wonderfully pretty, with blue fruit, red berries, violets and fine minerality. Not the deepest or most powerful wine in the lineup, but ripe, melting and immensely pleasurable. A beautiful expression of Chambolle that wins through perfume, texture and charm rather than sheer concentration.
Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Chatelots 2015 – 92pts
TN: A touch of toast and red fruit on the nose, opening into beautiful Pinot perfume on the palate. Red berries and pronounced floral notes sit at the center, with a very round, fine texture underneath. There is structure, but the tannins are incredibly refined. A slightly cooler and more restrained expression, but still with enough charm to make it very attractive.
Domaine Robert Groffier Pere & Fils Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2013 – 91pts
TN: Beautiful Pinot perfume with a distinct flinty reduction on the nose. The palate brings red fruit, minerality and more of that reductive character. There is clear substance underneath, but the wine feels a little harsh and stylistically too modern today, lacking the effortless charm and finesse I was hoping for.
A. Lachaux Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru 2013 – 93+pts
TN: Beautiful Pinot perfume from the start. The palate is fine, round and seductive, with pure red fruit and floral notes at the core. Not especially deep or powerful, but charming, effortless and very easy to drink, with a silky and harmonious feel throughout.
Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 2010 – 90pts
TN: A slight acetone note on the nose. The palate has good underlying substance, with violets, blue fruit, herbs, mint and minerality, but it never develops the charm or sweetness needed for real harmony. Interesting enough, but not fully convincing today.
Domaine Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 2013 – 92pts
TN: Beautiful red fruit on the palate, joined by herbs and fine minerality. Round and nicely balanced, with an attractive sense of purity, but still missing the final degree of melt and seductiveness. Clearly needs more time to soften and fully come together.
Author: Andy Schnyder
September 2026
