Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses Dinner at The Recreation. Tuesday 14 April 2020. $575.0

Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses is one of Burgundy's most desirable wines. Despite being a Premier Cru its magnificent aroma and complex, silky palate make it a wine of reverence.

 

Les Amoureuses produces magnificent, aromatic, complex and supple wines that outperform many Grand Crus. Accordingly, it is priced like a Grand Cru. The vineyard is 5.4 hectares in size and there are not a lot of producers. Clive Coates states "This is a vineyard which, like Clos St Jacques in Gevrey-Chambertin, is regarded by most - and priced accordingly - as the equal of a grand cru.... I regularly prefer it to Bonnes-Mares. But Bonnes-Mares it is not. Les Amoureuses is really a sort of younger brother to Musigny itself: perfumed, silky-smooth, intense and soft rather than brutal and muscular, and with real finesse".

 

Each year we receive an allocation from Albert Bichot. They produce one barrel so it is rare. What you may not know is that Jerome Castagnier makes a tiny, tiny amount - far less than Bichot. My annual allocation is 6 bottles so not surprisingly it is never offered for sale.

 

I have never tasted a Castagnier Les Amoureuses and think it is time to do so.

 

So I have assembled a lineup of Les Amoureuses from stock and my own cellar. We'll compare 2016 and 2015 from both producers, taste the 2014, 2012 and 2011 from Bichot and finish with the mighty 1999 from de Vogue. A pair of stickies from the great 2016 vintage will conclude the evening.

 

The wine list:

 

Champagne on arrival

 

Jerome Castagnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2016

Albert Bichot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2016

 

Jerome Castagnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2015

Albert Bichot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2015

 

Albert Bichot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2014

Albert Bichot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2012

Albert Bichot Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2011

 

Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 1999

 

Chateau Coutet 2016

Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey 2016