Product information
Domaine Confuron-Contetidot Chambolle-Musigny 2016
$120
Out of stock
Size & Type
Other
$120
Out of stock
When La Revue du Vin de France 2012 edition made this domaine only the 10th domaine in the Côte de Nuits to be felt worthy of the magical three stars, alongside the likes of Roumier, Mugnier and Rousseau, it was black and white recognition of the dramatic progress this domaine had made over the previous five or six years.
Brothers Yves and Jean-Pierre Confuron have carried on the traditions at the historic Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot that would certainly make their ancestors proud; the family continues to lead the way in séléction massale as it has since the 17th century, and even boasts a clone of the noble Pinot Noir in their name.
The domaine remains one of the rare few to produce four village wines among 11 hectares in Burgundy’s prestigious Côte de Nuits (Nuits-St-Georges, Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin), in addition to a number of premier cru and grand cru sites. Today, Yves directs the domaine and Jean-Pierre works in the cellar, while their parents Jacky and Bernadette work the vineyards as carefully as they have for more than fifty years.
The success of the house style has earned the two respected roles as consultants to neighbouring estates as well. Theirs is old-school red Burgundy at its best.
That the land has never seen synthetic herbicides or pesticides distinguishes Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot from the bulk of their peers in Burgundy, where more holistic vineyard practices can be a challenge. While they incorporate organic practices into their farming, they are not interested in being tied down by the strict confines that certifying agencies dictate. Regular ploughing and short pruning (with an occasional green harvest) keep yields low, between 35-45 hl/ha, on what are generally very old vines.
… the house style is decidedly old school and there’s no point buying these wines without the express intention of aging them over the longer-term.
Allen Meadows
Harvests are always later than most to ensure ripe stems. The grapes are then fermented in whole clusters, undergoing long cuvaisons of 2 to 3 weeks, and extended barrel-aging up to 2 years. New oak levels range from 10-20% in the village wines and up to 50% in the grand crus. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, the wines display incredible aromatic intensity, spicy fruit, and an elegant minerality from their exceptional terroirs.
One of the strengths of Confuron Cotetidot wines is their ability to age and develop, due to the low yields and old vines that are used, causing them to be more approachable in the medium to long term.
In the last few years even in their youth the wines have been wonderfully aromatic and seductive. Wines full of character, terroir, aromatics, accessibility and longevity. Yves’ signature wine if his Vosne 1er Cru Les Suchots, of which he has a very friendly two hectares, divided into two parcels, which border Echezeaux, the other Romanée-Saint-Vivant. This combination of elegance and power, spice and fragrance is a delight. If you like the serious built-to-age old school style, this is one of the very best addresses around.
Like so much of Burgundy, Comte Armand was hit with hail and frost through the growing season, dramatically reducing yields.
The Guillards, Gevrey-Chambertin, from 2016 were not affected by frost at all. They show a stunning expression of Pinot, transparent, fine delicious with great distinction between the terroirs.
This mirror Stephen Tanzers thoughts on the vintage as a whole.
Once again we are seeing the ability of great producers to optimise in challenging years.
The always forthright and direct Yves Confuron (who is also the régisseur at Domaine de Courcel in Pommard), describes 2016 as having the “growing season from hell because the frost damage was dramatic and even the vines that were less affected were weakened by it and thus the tender growth was more susceptible to the severe attack of mildew. Happily after the 14th of July the weather was essentially perfect and while it was at times very warm, we didn’t have the hydric stress that we did in 2015 and thus the tannins are finer. We waited to begin picking until the 5th of October and brought in very clean and ripe fruit with thick and firm skins. Both vintages produced excellent wines but the 2016s are slightly fresher and more Burgundian in style.” As the scores and commentaries will confirm, I was knocked out by the quality I found here though as I always underscore, the house style is decidedly old school and there’s no point buying these wines without the express intention of aging them over the longer-term. Allen Meadows
Yves Confuron has a stellar collection of 2016s in barrel at the family domain in Vosne-Romanée, but yields were pitiful: just 11 hectoliters per hectare on average for his 13 hectares of vines. He added that he produced 15 hectoliters per hectare in 2015, and that owing to his high proportion of old vines, yields rarely reach 30 h/h here. “The most-frosted vines in ‘16 gave the ripest wines,” he said in January, “just as the hailed-on vines in 2014 produced riper fruit.” Confuron’s ’16s have alcohol levels between 13% and 13.3%, without chaptalization.
As is his habit, Confuron harvested very late, beginning on October 5. One of the reasons he made so little wine is because he never uses fruit from the second set of buds. “It’s a bad idea,” said Confuron. “The tannins are usually underripe, there are frequently off tastes, and this fruit has more malic acidity, which is then lost during the malolactic fermentation.” And of course Confuron never destems his fruit, so the primary objective of his late picking is to get full phenolic maturity, which would be very unlikely from the second buds.
Confuron replants only as individual vines die. He uses the small percentage of young vines “for sugar,” which he says “supports extraction of the rest.” All of the Confuron-Cotétidot wines are aged in 15% to 20% new oak. Explains Confuron: “If the steak is great, why add sauce?” Stephen Tanzer
Confuron-Cotétidot is based in Vosne-Romanée in the Côte de Nuits with holdings in Nuits-St-Georges, Vougeot, Chambolle-Musigny, Gevrey-Chambertin and Pommard. An epic 2 Ha of ‘Les Suchot’ in Vosne-Romanée, smack bang between Romané-Saint-Vivant and Grands Echézeaux, the historic jewel in the crown.
Want to know more about Burgundy check out these articles from the Wine Bites Mag:
Getting Your Head Around Burgundy Part 1 – Vineyards, Classifications & Villages
Getting Your Head Around Burgundy Part 2 – Tiny Old Vines & Heaps of them!
From hillside fruit. A higher-toned, pure and elegant mix features notes of red and dark currant, floral and plenty of soft spice wisps. The lacy, refined and more obviously mineral-inflected flavors possess excellent midpalate density while retaining a refined mouthfeel on the dusty, tight and impressively long finish. This too is very much built-to-age but even so, among these four villages level wines, it will probably be the most approachable young. In sum, ageworthy Chambolle villages level wines don’t get much better. 2028+
Bright red-ruby; a bit less saturated than the Nuits-Saint-Georges but still deep for the year. Lively aromas and flavors of black raspberry, violet and minerals. Dense, very ripe and juicy, conveying a lovely combination of sweetness and energy. Finishes very long, with a serious mass of ripe tannins and enough ripe acidity to leaven its pronounced sucrosité and stimulate the salivary glands. "Like a Spanish lady educated in Switzerland" is how Confuron described this very ripe but lively wine.
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