Mugneret-Gibourg: 2019 Les Lutenières, 2019 Colombière, 2015 NSG Chaignots 1er, 2015 Échezeaux, 2011 Clos de Vougeot

Madame Marie-Andrée Mugneret of Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg dropped in to Singapore (her very first visit!) where her sole agent, Alvin of Domaine Wines, wasted no time in organising a dinner at Jade Palace on 24 March 2024. Marie-Andrée still recalls our visit to her domaine in October 2018, and it was very good to see that she has not changed at all since. The wines of Mugneret-Gibourg hail from various holdings in Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-Saints-Georges totaling some 8 hectares, mostly de-stemmed during vinification. Made by an all-female team all from within the family after Marie-Andrée and her sister Marie-Christine succeeded their father Georges (who was also an ophthalmologist), one cannot help but notice that the wines tend to be a little more feminine: wines of great purity and elegance, well-proportioned with understated power and intensity. This was evident throughout the range that evening from village to grand cru. Like most burgundies, though, quantity is scarce and they command a premium. Thank you very much for visiting us, Marie-Andrée, and we hope to see you again soon.

2019 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Bourgogne Les Lutenières. Deep purple. Distant nose of raspberries and cherries. Exuberant presence of bright red fruits, displaying a warm ripeness with a hint of velvety tannins. Fairly integral with controlled intensity.

2019 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée. Good colour. More immediate in character than the preceding wine, proffering cherries and red fruits with a greater suggestion of verve. The palate displays refreshing purity of fruit with a glimpse of inner detail, carrying a moderate swell of intensity to its modest finish.

2019 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Vosne-Romanée La Colombière. From a single lieu-dit but still village, this wine is considerably deeper and darker, delivering a full bouquet of haw and rosy fragrances matched by a superb depth of glorious fruit on the busy palate, still tightly coiled but already lush and succulent, finishing with a trace of vanillin. Truly quite a special cuvée, imbued with plenty of promise.

2015 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Chaignots. Good colour. Soft red fruits and cherries dominate with a refined feminine intensity, though somewhat more fleeting on the medium-full palate, underscored by a deeper darker minerally vein entirely in keeping with the character of this commune. Quite vibrant and energetic, morphing together very well.

2015 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Échezeaux Grand Cru. This blend of two plots from the top slope is deep purple with an opaque darkish core, proffering a sharp lift of black cherries and currants from the ample depth of fruit that exert tremendous verve and exciting intensity, its seamlessly layered textures yielding fine inner detail with overtones of haw. Beautifully integral. Highly successful.

2011 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru. Classic pinot tint, exuding a gentle rosy fragrance matched by a moderate presence of fruit. Well-integrated though the slick acidity is a little too distracting, shifting one’s attention away from the silky-smooth tannins. Somewhat detached and uninvolving.