LE MUSIGNY

2016 Grand Cru Domaine Joseph Drouhin

EN PRIMEUR

This is great. Sleek, polished and clean feel. This is good and broadly intense. Lovely ripeness. But just checked by minerality and nice acidity to frame it. Broad, leafy and good cut. Tannin is gentle, but stony too. Impressive, finishes on a more brisk note. More serious, less fat, less flesh - just nicely focused drive of a point red fruit.L&S (Nov 2017)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

(from a .68 ha parcel that produced only two barrels, which is an approximate yield of 7 hl/ha). This is the first wine in the Drouhin range that I would describe as generously wooded though the oak toast isn’t so strong as to completely relegate the wonderfully spicy dark berry fruit, violet, anise, orange pekoe tea and cigar box aromas to the background. The almost painfully intense large-scaled flavors display obvious power and minerality that carries over to the superbly complex, persistent and well-balanced finale. This is a definite ‘wow’ wine though one that is very much built-to-age. Drinking range: 2036 - Rating: 97 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Apr 2018)

Such clarity and precision on the nose with rose-petal and strawberry character. Like looking a rainbow. Full-bodied, tight and integrated with gorgeous purity of fruit and focus. Ultra-fine tannins and focused. So sexy. Drinkable but needs four or five years to show it all. Rating: 97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)

The 2016 Musigny Grand Cru was picked on 29 September with 30% whole cluster. It remained quite introverted in my glass despite vigorous coaxing, with woodland and fern infusing the red berry fruit, a little static and less flamboyant than maybe the best Musignys. Holding something back for later? I think so. The palate is well balanced and seems to shrug off the travails of the growing season more than the nose, thanks to its gorgeous, pure black plum and blackcurrant fruit and the spicy, black pepper and clove note furnishing the sustained finish. This is an impressive Musigny that will unequivocally age in consummate style. Drinking range: 2022 - 2050 Rating: 94-96 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Dec 2017)

The 2016 Musigny is superb, wafting from the glass with a deep bouquet of ripe red cherry, liquorice, truffle, wild rose and squab. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, its tannins rich and velvety, its finish long and sapid. The balance here is perfect and the wine’s overall impression strikingly complete. Drinking range: 2030 - 2050 Rating: 96 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Oct 2017)

Joseph Drouhin, founded in 1880 and still family owned, are one of the most well-respected names in Burgundy, especially through their flagship wine, the iconic Clos des Mouches.

A huge part of the Drouhin production comes from their own domaine fruit (78 hectares), and much of the rest comes from contracts such as that with the Marquis de Laguiche, who shook hands with the grandfather of the current generation, agreeing to let him manage his vineyards which included an important part of Le Montrachet; this collaboration endures. Today, the fourth generation is at the helm

Small refinements continue to be made here. The presses have been changed - a reversion to basket pressing for the reds, and for whites the presses are open - along with a number of other growers they are following the trend to think that slight oxidation of the juice before fermentation is not a problem and may add complexity as well as avoiding later problems of premature oxidation in bottle.

For the reds there has been the introduction of selective whole-bunch fermentation in the Côte de Nuits wines. The house style remains one that 'emphasises the natural elegance of great Burgundies' as they describe it. The domaine is all cultivated with an organic and biodynamic approach.

ORDERING VIA OUR WEBSITE:

  • We will respond as quickly as possible with confirmation of your order and your invoice.

Please note that certain wines are on very tight allocations and will first be offered to customers who buy across the range. If you have any queries, please email our primeurs team or speak to your usual L&S contact.

ORDERING VIA EMAIL:

Please feel free to email us at any time. This list can include wines listed as available on the website, as well as those marked 'To Be Advised'. We will reply as soon as possible with confirmation of what we can offer.

STORAGE OPTIONS:

Wines bought en primeur are scheduled to arrive in the UK over the course of the next eighteen months. If you do not wish to take home delivery, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our primeurs team for more information.

While helpful, we do not require a firm commitment on delivery destination to process your primeur order at this stage. Our team will be in contact with you when your wines arrive in the UK to confirm the necessary delivery details.

BURGUNDY EN PRIMEUR FAQ

OFFER: All wines are offered subject to availability and final confirmation.

PRICING: All prices are quoted IN BOND ex-VAT, by the case size stated. Please double check that the desired case size does match what is being offered as wines are variously listed in threes, sixes, dozens, halves and larger formats.

DELIVERY - TIMING: This is a primeur offer so the wines are not yet physically available for delivery. They will be shipped to the UK over the next eighteen months. Generally, wines are shipped to your nominated location once the whole order has landed in our London City Bond account. If you require wines to be delivered by a certain date, please advise us at the time of ordering.

DELIVERY - FEES: In bond delivery to an Elephant Storage account (for more information see 'Storage Options' opposite) is free of charge. Transfer of wines to any third-party bond (i.e. not Elephant Storage) will incur an administration charge of £16.50 + VAT for all orders under £1,000. Please indicate if you would like the wine duty paid and a duty & VAT invoice will be raised once all the wines on your order are available for shipment. Once the relevant duty & VAT has been settled, we will ship the wines to your nominated address as per our normal duty paid Delivery Terms.

PAYMENT: All orders will be invoiced for immediate payment by cheque, cash, debit card or cleared funds to our account. We regret that we cannot accept credit cards for primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.