Domaine Hudelot-Baillet Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 2021

Les Charmes is one of the great Chambolle-Musigny premier crus — and in the hands of Dominique Le Guen, it is consistently the most giving and sap-driven wine in the Hudelot-Baillet range. Dominique's parcel is 0.63 hectares with vines ranging from 25 to 70 years of age, aged half in new barrels and half in one-year-old barrels. Les Charmes is known to produce a more charming expression of Chambolle fruit — and this wine is consistently the most sap-driven of Dominique's two premier crus, where Les Cras sits on the more mineral-driven end of the appellation's spectrum. Dominique's winemaking involves careful sorting and destemming without crushing, a cold pre-maceration of around eight days, followed by punch-downs transitioning to pumping over, with a delestage technique used to draw tannins from skins rather than pips — a meticulous process that yields wines of rich fruitiness, finesse, and power. 

Very pure on the nose — almost ostentatious in its black cherry and cassis fruit, very floral and not shy in the slightest. The palate restores order with gorgeous red berry fruit, slightly gourmand in style, almost gamey towards the finish that feels very long. The 2022 is much more complex and nuanced than the Vieilles Vignes — very focused, with ebullient red fruit laced with violet, medium-bodied with good density on entry. Plum, lavender, smoke and mushroom are the hallmark flavours — a wine of real elegance and depth that sits comfortably alongside the great names of Les Charmes: Barthod, Leroy, Ponsot. This is the wine that announces Hudelot-Baillet to anyone who hasn't yet been paying attention.