2015 Marchand-Tawse Musigny

Marchand-Tawse is a micro-negociant founded in 2011 by a pair of Canadians with long-time ties to Burgundy and fine winemaking. Quebec native Pascal Marchand moved to Burgundy in 1983 to make wine for estates including Comte Armand’s Clos des Epeneaux and Domaine de la Vougeraie. Fellow Canadian Moray Tawse is a banker and financier who founded a winery in Niagara before also going into business with Pascal Marchand in Burgundy. Together they have acquired village, premier cru and grand cru parcels, and in 2012 purchased the famous Gevrey-Chambertin estate Domaine Maume. The estate makes 8,000 to 10,000 cases a year.

Musigny is considered one of the greatest vineyards in the Cote d’Or, in Burgundy. At 26.5 acres it includes two sections, Grand Musigny and Les Petits Musigny. The vineyard is 260 to 300 meters in elevation and the soil is unusual for the region, a mix of limestone and red clay. Comte de Vogue owns about three-quarters of the vineyard, with a holding of 17 acres. The next largest landowners are Jacques-Frederic Mugnier, with 3.2 acres; and Jacques Prieur with 1.7 acres. Also noteworthy is Leroy’s tiny .7 acre holding. Though most of the vineyard is planted to Pinot Noir, Comte de Vogue plants a small parcel of Chardonnay, which is sold as Bourgogne blanc due to the relatively youth of the Chardonnay vines. Wine writer Clive Coates has written that “at its best the red wine (of Musigny) can be quite simply the most delicious wine to be found in Burgundy.”

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.