Jean-Jacques Confuron Chambolle-Musigny 2019

Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron is one of the great hidden gems of the Côte de Nuits — based in the quiet village of Premeaux-Prissey just south of Nuits-Saint-Georges, with an 8.5-hectare estate that punches dramatically above its modest profile. Sophie Meunier, a fourth-generation Burgundian landowner, and her husband Alain took over from her father Jean-Jacques, the estate's holdings including prestigious parcels in Romanée-Saint-Vivant and Clos de Vougeot, alongside well-placed premier crus in Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-Saint-Georges. The Confuron plot in Chambolle-Musigny, drawn from three lieux-dits — Derrière la Four, Les Pas de Chats and Les Condemennes — is at 80 years of age the oldest parcel in the entire domaine, and Alain has consistently ploughed it by horse since 2003. As with all Confuron wines, fruit and terroir predominate: 30% is raised in new oak and the rest in used barrels, with a long, slow malolactic fermentation. 

A top Chambolle-Musigny offers pure aromas of violets, dark cherry and damp earth, coupled with a velvety elegance, a supple mid-palate, an abundance of black and red berry, and finesse and power through a long, fine-grained finish — and Confuron's version delivers on every count. The bouquet is ripe with bright black currants and cassis fruit neatly layered with oak; the palate medium-bodied with a ripe, chocolate-tinted entrance, fine acidity and a certain structure and power beneath the trademark Confuron elegance. Deep, ripe fruit mixed with tart red berries, a generous perfumed nose, and a range of earthy aromas like forest floor, dried leaves and bay leaf round out a village wine of real substance.