Musigny, Domaine Jacques Prieur 2012

**Note: from a .77 ha parcel in the climat Combe d'Orveau, which is also a monopole of the domaine**
Strong reduction completely dominates the nose. By contrast there is good freshness and verve to the appealingly mineral-driven large-scaled flavors that are solidly well-concentrated which helps to buffer the very firm tannins on the long, austere and reasonably well-balanced finish. This is a bit awkward today but everything seems to be in place to allow for extended aging and unlike some of the wines in the range that will be accessible young, this isn't one of them.

The 2012 Musigny Grand Cru comes from Prieur's 0.77-hectare parcel located in the southern section of the grand cru close to Clos de Vougeot. This year it deigned the world with 9 barrels of which seven were new. It clearly has the most sophisticated, complex bouquet of the domaine's reds in 2012 adorned with blackberry, raspberry leaf, creme de cassis, minerals and incense. The palate is medium-bodied with fine delineation. This has a firm backbone that lends this Musigny a sense of masculinity and sternness, a 2012 that demands you come back in 2022. Very focused with fine mineralite on the finish, this should be cellared away for a number of years. Finally, there is the small matter (literally) of what to my knowledge is one of the most elusive wines in Burgundy.

Bright medium red-ruby. Reticent but nuanced aromas of currant, black raspberry, graphite, licorice, pepper and iron, complicated by sexy soil tones. Suave, spicy, chewy and deep, with hints of flowers, leather, noble herbs and tobacco hinting at the warm terroir here. At once primary and sweet, with a compelling sweetness and very suave tannins. Comes across as less primary than the Chambertin and Echezeaux and easier to taste today but has the density for a long and graceful evolution in bottle.