Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Musigny Grand Cru Pinot Noir

The 2013 Musigny Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru has a pronounced, minty bouquet with plenty of fruit. However, it lacks the bandwidth of a truly great Musigny from de Vogüé. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, briny with black olives infusing the black fruits, linear and structured toward the finish. Fine, but very serious. Like an old schoolmate who you've never heard crack a joke. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2023)

The 1993 Musigny Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru was a real surprise given that I have meted out criticism for the wines from this era. It has a mesmerizing nose with wild strawberry, raspberry and rose petal scents that feel youthful and exuberant. The palate is fleshy and beautifully balanced, supple and has delightful, seductive rondeur. It crescendos towards the finish that is armed with killer delineation, completing perhaps the best Musigny that de Vogüé oversaw that decade. Tasted blind at the Wallace brothers' Xmas dinner. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2023)

Dark fruit. Plum and garrigue with black cherry. A whiff of menthol and a long pure finish still pretty clenched and austere. There’s huge quality here but it’s tight

Tasted blind. Red purple in the glass. Looks young. Killer nose. Everyone smiles. Notes of red cherries, tan spice, rhubarb, some rosemary and a little candied fruit. Very refined in the mouth. Masculine. Very balanced, with ample fruit and matching structure. Has the precision of a great Rousseau. As good as burgundy gets. Guessed 71 Rousseau Chambertin. This goes on the list of all time greats for me. Thanks Stan!

Perhaps one of the most controversial wines there is, whereas on release it received “100pts” and was destined for greatness. But ever since, it seems to rarely live up to the hype. Here, in perfect condition, it shows intense aromatics of sous bois, saddle leather, dried roses and crème de cassis. It’s definitely not classic Burgundy, it’s almost new world in style with its brooding richness and liquored fruit, and perhaps even reminiscent of CDP, too. Interesting. The palate is coming together showing plenty of vibrancy, concentration and intensity, but it doesn’t have the depth on the midpalate you’d expect from this wine, and the finish is a bit short with drying tannins. Still, definitely enjoyable and special to have tried this legendary wine.

Very dark fruited. A little closed needs another 3-5 years

Crystalline candied sour cherry. A fantastic Musigny.

Perhaps there’s no more of a polarizing producer in Burgundy than de Vogüé. The 2008 Musigny was served blind, yielding calls from Dujac Bonnes Mares to Drouhin Amoureuses to actually, correctly Vogüé Musigny. The 2008 showed a lot of oak presence and doesn’t have the typical power of Musigny. But what it lacks in power it makes up for in elegance.

It needed a great deal of air, and it often went back and forth from being shut to then being highly expressive and even wafting from the glass, detectable from a good distance away. There is great focus, concentration and intensity, with a long and gripping finish. Very enjoyable, but I think it needs more time to absorb the oak and balance itself out in order to truly reach its potential.

Despite a 2+ hr decant this was a coiled titanium spring. Shy nose gave only wafts of schist (full of schist?), and led the palate with steely black fruit. I watched Zach Snyder’s Justice League last night. This Musigny is Superman’s new black suit. Power and force. Timeless. Impenetrable. Awesome. Don’t touch this for at least 10 years. 🙏 my friend!

Tasted blind. Reddish tawny. Nose is closed and not yielding much. I get cranberries, some cherries, iron and stones, some wood. Has a high pitched character to it. Has some pucker in it yet. Tight with ample acidity. I guess 97 Vogue Bonnes Mares. In my experience this wine has had some variations in its performance. Today it was better than most, but suffered by not getting ample air before it was served.