Given our steady flow of Daily Offers, we can be forgiven if we don’t remember all the details of a wine we offered more than six months ago. But this wine? Instant recall—followed by a quick “we’ll take it all” when a new batch was offered to us.
Today’s superb 2014 has remained vividly etched in my memory: It’s one of those “best-wine-on-the-table” sleepers that eclipsed a lot of much-pricier competition back when we first tasted it. The decision to re-offer it—and at $10 less per bottle to boot—was an easy one to say the least. As I noted previously, Philippe Chéron’s label is a relatively new one in Burgundy, but his family is not: He is a native of the region who ran the family
négociant business for more than a decade, after which he acquired some choice vineyard parcels that had belonged to his grandfather. Among these prized sites is the source of today’s exquisite Chambolle-Musigny, “Clos de L’Orme”—an acclaimed
lieu-dit nearly adjacent to the Premier Cru “Les Charmes,” a parcel which, upon seeing it, makes you wonder how it, too, isn’t classified Premier Cru. The wine certainly drinks like a Premier Cru, showing off the bricks-wrapped-in-silk suaveness that characterizes great Pinot Noir from Chambolle. It’s a beautifully made, impeccably sourced, cellar-worthy red Burgundy that’s poised for true greatness—and as longtime subscribers know, it’s from one of my favorite recent red Burgundy vintages. I was shocked to see more of this stunner become available—take up to six bottles today and run!
The impeccable balance of the 2014 vintage is on glorious display in this wine from Chéron, who’s no newcomer when it comes to winemaking. Although he’s from Burgundy and studied winemaking at the Lycée Viticole de Beaune, he began his winemaking career at Domaine du Montmirail in Gigondas (another family property). Later, back in Burgundy, his stint as a négociant was followed by a distinguished turn as winemaker at Domaine Belland in Santenay. Then, in a stroke of great luck, the leases on his grandfather’s vineyards expired the same year (2010) he left Belland after it was sold. Originally, Chéron’s wines were released under his grandfather’s Domaine Paul Misset label, after which the Philippe Chéron label debuted in 2011.
Look at a
map of Chambolle-Musigny and you can home in on the prime positioning of the Clos de l’Orme
lieu-dit, much of it situated at the same point on the slope as Premier Cru “Les Charmes.” It’s nearly equidistant (500 meters or so) from Grand Cru Bonnes Mares to the north and Grand Cru Musigny to the south, and Burg-o-philes may be familiar with the (much more expensive) bottling from the site made by Sylvain Cathiard. Chéron’s version fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled concrete vats and aged about year in 50% new French oak
barriques before bottling.
Today’s 2014 is a textbook rendering of Chambolle-Musigny, with a radiant core of red-fruited Pinot Noir goodness carried as if on a silk pillow. It’s a wine that expresses its power by way of freshness and aromatics, rather than extract or tannic intensity. In the glass, it’s a luminous garnet-red with ruby and pink reflections, with a few swirls unleashing a delicious perfume of ripe red and black cherries, wild strawberry, crushed raspberry, sandalwood spice, rose petals, Orange Pekoe tea, vanilla, leather, and underbrush. It is medium- to medium-plus in body with well-rounded tannins, but it is still firmly structured enough to merit splashing in a decanter a good 30-45 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Burgundy stems. With time open, it really blossoms into a beguiling and pretty style of Pinot Noir, and I can’t wait to see what 3-5 more years of cellar time add to it—I suspect an extra layer of luscious, fruity flesh, which should be magical. Serve this refined, polished Pinot with lighter meats and even seafood so as not to overshadow its many nuances. I think it would pair up nicely with the spice mix in the attached boneless lamb loin recipe, but you could just as easily opt for pork, chicken, or salmon. This wine is going to shine, brightly, as long as you don’t bury it under something heavy. It’s a terrific new discovery that’s not to be missed!
