2018 Ghislaine Barthod Chambolle-Musigny les Cras 1er

Decanter 96 – “Les Cras is situated in the upper part of Chambolle-Musigny close to Les Fuées on very poor, white, chalk-dominated soils. Racked last in 2018, it was one of the tighter, tauter wines in the cellar when I tasted it, but has enormous vitality and focus. Crunchy red cherry and pomegranate flavours lead you into a finish that combines notes of vanilla spice, lacy tannins and refreshing minerality.”

Burghound (92-95) – “Here the nose is presently sufficiently reduced as to render an evaluation difficult. More interesting are the racy, intense and transparent middle weight flavors that brim with both minerality and dry extract where the latter helps to buffer the moderately austere, serious and strikingly long finale. I very much like the contrast between an almost delicate mid-palate and the bold, powerful and even muscular backend.”