Chambolle-Musigny 2020 – Jean-Claude Boisset

The grapes to produce the Chambolle-Musigny Jean-Claude Boisset were handpicked and collected in 20kg perforated crates. They were sorted a first time in the vineyard and a second time on the sorting table when they arrived at the winery. The grapes were 50% destemmed but not crushed and were gravity-fed into a small fermenting vat. Maceration with 50% whole clusters lasted a total of 23 days including one week of cold maceration (12°C). Fermentation used indigenous yeasts only. Infrequent punching of the cap (eight maximum). The wine was aged on the lees for 16 months with no racking using a proportion of 40% new French oak barrels.

Chambolle-Musigny is one of the smallest and most parcellated appellations of the Côte de Nuits whose Grand Crus are among Burgundy’s rarest and most collectable wines. Boisset’s Village Chambolle comes from massale selected vines from 5 ‘lieux dits’ located around the village, including Creux Baissants, Pas de Chat, Derrière le Four and the famed Clos de l’Orme, which many growers believe to be as good as their Premier Cru sites. Boisset’s Chambolle vines have been farmed organically since 2008. The soils are very infertile and their base of hard limestone, topped by a thin layer of Bathonian limestone, ensures good soil drainage and contributes to the precise, sensual character of their Chambolle. Production is very small; Boisset produces just 2000-2500 bottles of Chambolle Village depending on the vintage.

Jean-Claude Boisset is a family-owned wine company founded in 1961. Jean-Claude’s first parcel of land was located in Gevrey-Chambertin and today the company is based in Les Ursulines, a former convent in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and run by his children Jean-Charles and Nathalie. In 2018, they opened a new state-of-the-art winery, which reflects their modern, technical approach to winemaking. In 2002, Jean-Charles recruited Grégory Patriat, who had previously worked at the legendary Vosne-Romanée producer Domaine Leroy, to revitalise and reinvent the house. He transformed Boisset into a ‘viniculteur’, working closely with the growers, guiding the wines from vine to bottle to achieve the desired quality. In order to create concentrated, beautifully well-rounded wines which are naturally expressive of their individual appellation, Grégory practises minimal intervention winemaking. Each plot is picked separately and hand sorted to ensure optimal maturity. Sulphite levels are low and the wines are fermented exclusively by natural yeasts, with rarely more than 30% new oak used on a wine.