From 60-year-old vines in the tiny Les Borniques that adjoins Le Musigny, plus fruit from Les Plantes below the village, the Lecheneauts’ 2005 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru offers an exotic bouquet marked by pencil and coconut shavings of new oak, along with brown spices, sweet floral perfume, and ripe black fruits. A liqueur-like presentation of black cherry and blackberry on the palate continues to be marked by sweet inner-mouth florality, spice, and hints of caramel. The texture (as with so many of the wines at this address) displays flattering creaminess and overall polish, and this, along with abundance of sweet fruit and spice, renders the barrel notes cooperative in projecting an outgoing personality that maximizes early sensuality and sweetness. The Lecheneaut brothers – Vincent and Philippe – were still hoping to get the last of two wines (a Chorey-les-Beaune and one of two lots of village Nuits-St.-Georges, the final blend of which, while promising, could therefore not be fairly assessed) to go through malo at the time of my visit. But other than that, things were looking delicious indeed in this cellar. Alcohol levels came in almost shockingly low given the ripeness of flavors on display (in fact, the brothers chaptalized a bit to extend the fermentations) and most but not all of the wines had the requisite concentration to resist any obvious marking by their 50-100% of new oak. These are forward, early-flattering, often positively flamboyant wines for the vintage. The samples I tasted had been drawn in proper proportion just prior to their having been racked and assembled for bottling (which was imminent). Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083.

From 60-year-old vines in the tiny Les Borniques that adjoins Le Musigny, plus fruit from Les Plantes below the village, the Lecheneauts’ 2005 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru offers an exotic bouquet marked by pencil and coconut shavings of new oak, along with brown spices, sweet floral perfume, and ripe black fruits. A liqueur-like presentation of black cherry and blackberry on the palate continues to be marked by sweet inner-mouth florality, spice, and hints of caramel. The texture (as with so many of the wines at this address) displays flattering creaminess and overall polish, and this, along with abundance of sweet fruit and spice, renders the barrel notes cooperative in projecting an outgoing personality that maximizes early sensuality and sweetness. The Lecheneaut brothers – Vincent and Philippe – were still hoping to get the last of two wines (a Chorey-les-Beaune and one of two lots of village Nuits-St.-Georges, the final blend of which, while promising, could therefore not be fairly assessed) to go through malo at the time of my visit. But other than that, things were looking delicious indeed in this cellar. Alcohol levels came in almost shockingly low given the ripeness of flavors on display (in fact, the brothers chaptalized a bit to extend the fermentations) and most but not all of the wines had the requisite concentration to resist any obvious marking by their 50-100% of new oak. These are forward, early-flattering, often positively flamboyant wines for the vintage. The samples I tasted had been drawn in proper proportion just prior to their having been racked and assembled for bottling (which was imminent).Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083.