Jacques-Frederic Mugnier, Musigny Grand Cru 2014

The 2014 Musigny Grand Cru is just being released. Wafting from the glass with aromas of rose petals, Egyptian musk, orange rind, peonies, warm spices and red berries, it's full-bodied, velvety and perfumed, with superb concentration, lively acids and fine, powdery tannins that still assert themselves on the long, penetrating and gently chalky finish. This is a brilliant Musigny, but while Mugnier has done some of the work for his clients by aging the wine at the domaine for seven or eight years, it still demands a decade of additional patience.

A nose more floral than fruity, leading Paul Wasserman to suggest it seemed to be whole cluster. (Mugnier destems every vintage.) Very elegant and subtle, this wine opens up nicely in the glass. A mineral component shows up and the fruit is more red than black. It’s a pretty light ruby color, with medium body. The balance is impeccable, the texture silky. Drinking brilliantly now, it will hold for at least a decade. But why wait?