Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle Musigny Aux Beaux Bruns 1er Cru 2018 (750ML)

91-93 WA / 90-93 JM / 89-91 BH

Picked on August 26, the 2018 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Aux Beaux Bruns reveals a deep bouquet of sweet red berries and plums, mingled with hints of raw cocoa, spices and soil tones. Medium to full-bodied, succulent and enveloping, it's elegantly fleshy, with excellent concentration and an ample chassis of fine, powdery tannin. This is typically one of the most forward premiers crus in the cellar, and that appears to be the case this year.—William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

Picked on the 26th of August but it is still a totally intense black colour. Huge weight but it is not clumsy, a dark fruit, perhaps some plums, a little bit of oak, really quite backward. Was time to pick from the fruit point of view but have avoided dry tannins. Tasted: November 2019. --Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy

Tasting note: Moderately firm reduction flattens the fruit at present. Otherwise, there is fine richness to the bigger and richer if less refined flavors that exude less minerality on the firm, serious and grippy finish that is borderline rustic. As is often the case, this is quite powerful and robust but the balance isn't at its usual level, at least not at present. –Allen Meadows, Burghound