2017 Domaine Roumier Morey-Saint-Denis Clos de la Bussière & Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras   

BY NEAL MARTIN | FEBRUARY 16, 2021

Once upon a time, Saturday night was party night. Every Saturday, you would find me making disco shapes on the dance floor. Saturday night was for living life like there was no tomorrow. 

Now, when there genuinely does feel like there’s no tomorrow, Saturdays find me tucked up in bed by eleven at night, not eleven in the morning. The party animal is still there – it’s just been tamed by middle age. Nevertheless, on a Saturday night last December, you would have found me in my garden office, jabbering away to my computer screen, gulping down bottles of very fine Burgundy. Together with Antonio Galloni on the other side of the Atlantic, we hosted a Vinous Learn seminar/interactive tasting that focused on Christophe Roumier’s 2017s. The event was fun and enlightening. It compensated being denied the chance to assess these wines blind after September’s “Burgfest” was cancelled (it is rescheduled for later this year and will include Roumier’s 2017s.) The two bottles that I obtained here in the UK enabled me to examine them over a 24-hour period, something impossible either at the Domaine or indeed, during Burgfest. 

The 2017 Morey-Saint-Denis Clos de la Bussière 1er Cru was broody when I first tasted it from barrel. In bottle it has certainly opened up nicely, quintessentially "Morey" in style with dark berry fruit, sous-bois and a very subtle herbal element that derives from a summer that was less warm than 2016 or 2018. The palate is beautifully balanced with a fine bead of acidity, gentle grip and fine-boned tannins. There is wonderful salinity towards the finish, open and dare I say, virtually ready for business. Does it have the substance to deliver long-term cellaring? Of that, I am not so sure, but I don't think this wine really cares to be quite honest. [Readers should note that this markedly improved the second evening after opening, evolving greater cohesion and a little more corpulence.] 92/Drink 2022-2038. The 2017 Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras 1er Cru has a dreamy bouquet that gushes with brambly red berry fruit, redcurrant, cranberry and, to be exact, Tiptree “Little Scarlet” strawberry jam, all beautifully defined. The palate is plush, velvety smooth, very refined with pitch perfect acidity. This Les Cras displays admirable depth, moving into more red Morello cherry and light allspice notes towards the delicate and yet persistent finish. Iron fist/velvety glove and all that... This is a brilliant Chambolle-Musigny from Christophe Roumier and it soared even higher the following day, gaining more nuance and filling out further on the finish. 94/Drink 2023-2045.