2018 Stephane Magnien Chambolle Musigny Premier Cru Les Sentiers

Les Sentiers is located beneath the Bonnes Mares grand cru, north of the village and shares similar soils. The wines, while layered and elegant, are more muscular and velvety, rather than silken and high-toned. The Magnien “Sentiers” is from vines ranging from 45 to 90 years old and ages for 12 months in barrel, 10% new, then 2 to 3 months in cuve inox. The 2018 vintage is effusively perfumed, with aromas of black cherry, wild raspberry, violets, forest floor, and iron. Dark cherry, black tea, and blood orange peel on the sappy, yet chalky, mineral palate. As befits the cru’s proximity to Bonnes Mares, this is a more masculine expression of Chambolle-Musiginy. There’s good concentration of fruit here, in addition to distinct terroir delineation; with still more to be revealed as the structure resolves itself further. Decant now or better still, hold for 5 to 15 years.