2023 Domaine Georges Roumier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru "Les Cras"

The 2023 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Cras wafts from the glass with a rich bouquet of wild berries, violets, exotic spices and baking chocolate. Medium to full-bodied, suave and layered, it's ripe but balanced, with sweet structuring tannins and a mineral finish. After producing a ripe, muscular trio in 2018, 2019 and 2020, Roumier seems to have reposted with a quintessentially elegant trio in the form of 2021, 2022 and now 2023. Alcohol levels range from 13.3% to 13.8%, much as in 2022; and, as in 2022, while Roumier tries to delay his malolactic fermentations, he didn't succeed this year, meaning that the wines were very easy to taste when I visited. Harvest began on September 13, and yields were good, much the same as in 1999, even though the vineyards are on average older. Of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 trio, 2023 appears to be the softest and most giving, and the wines will offer a broad drinking window.(WK)

Like the Combettes, there is 70% whole cluster here, so it's no surprise that the aromas roar. Licorice, mulberries, boysenberries and evergreen tangle coming out of the glass. Nicely harmonious despite the boisterous acidity and expansive tannins, this has excellent length, too. There are lots of old vines here with plantation dates, off the top of Christophe's head, including 1912, '30, '36 and '40. As the sweet fruits fade on the long finish, tannins worthy of the name Cras (meaning "stony") start to peep through with a light tug and dryness.