Terroir Insight: Mugneret-Gibourg Chambolle-Musigny Feusselottes

I have a soft spot for the wines from Mugneret-Gibourg. They are wines of pleasure and enjoyment, yet they still require some aging to reach their optimum complexity and hedonistic joyfulness.

It’s easy to mention the domaine’s three grands crus as favourites. Yet it would be a grave error to overlook the Chambolle-Musigny Les Feusselottes, a seductive beauty which honours the remarkable women at Mugneret-Gibourg.

Let’s go to Les Feusselottes, after a short brush-up on the estate’s history.

Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg through time

Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg was founded in 1933 by the couple Jeanne Gibourg (1906-1997) and André Mugneret (1905-1986).

The couple had one son, Georges Mugneret (1929-1988), who was an ophthalmologist. Georges decided to pursue the family profession in parallel with his medical career, and enlarged the vineyard holdings through purchases of plots in his own name. Thus was created Domaine Georges Mugneret.

Dr. Georges Mugneret met his future wife, Jacqueline, while serving in Algeria, and following their marriage, the couple had two daughters, Marie-Christine (b. 1959) and Marie-Andrée (b. 1968).

When Georges Mugneret passed away in 1988, Jacqueline decided to take over the estate, and continue the production together with the older daughter Marie-Christine. They were later joined by Marie-Andrée.

The Mugneret sisters have now been joined by their own daughters, ensuring the future and continuity of this fine estate.

Marie-Christine has two daughters, Lucie (b. 1985), and Clemence, (b. 1991), as well as granddaughter Sixtine, born in 2014, and grandson Augustin, born in 2016 – the first boy in the family.

Marie-Andrée also has two daughters: Marion (b. 1994) and Fanny (b. 1997), who complete the team – and the family – around the estate.

Finally, for collectors it should be noted that for years the wines were bottled under two different labels, Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg and Domaine Georges Mugneret, depending on the internal family ownership of the vineyards. Since 2009, all the family’s wines have been sold under the Mugneret-Gibourg label.

The Chambolle Les Feusselottes in a historical perspective

Historically, Les Feusselottes has not enjoyed a tremendous reputation, and hence its ownership through the years has been less prominent, according to the known sources.

Lavalle (1855)¹ does not mention owners of Feusselottes – or “Fisselottes” as he spelled it. It was classified in his work as Troisième Cuvee, along with Baudes and Les Sentiers.

Danguy & Aubertin² has more information, and offers another new spelling of the name – “Gisselottes” alongside the better-known Feusselottes. Their 1892 work cites some known owners, but none are among the current owners of the vineyard, which they still ranked as Troisième Cuvee at the end of the 19th century.

Finally, we have Rodier (1920)³ with yet more information about the ownership, including one well-known name: Arthur Trapet, from the Jean Trapet estate in Gevrey. It should be noted that the Trapet family originally comes from Chambolle.

Rodier promotes Feusselottes to Deuxieme Cuvee, hence perhaps rewarding my affection for this vineyard.

It should be noted that Les Grands Murs located below Feusselottes also can be sold as Feusselottes. Les Grands Murs is 0.7683 ha and cover the triangular area below Feusselottes – see map below.

The Mugneret-Gibourg plots

Mugneret-Giborg has a fine parcel in the core of the vineyard, just south of Cecile Tremblay’s holding. In reality, there is a strong Vosne presence in Feusselottes, with estates like Mugneret-Gibourg and Cecile Tremblay as large owners, and Meo-Camuzet and Georges Noellat as leaseholders. And yes: while Cecile Tremblay lives in Morey, somehow the style and selection of her vineyards say Vosne-Romanee.

The Mugneret-Gibourg plot was acquired in 1985, the last of the domaine’s current vineyards. Feusselottes does not have a long and glorified past, but its fortunes began to change with the Mugneret-Gibourg acquisition..

You need to login as a Premium subscriber to read the rest of this article. If you are not a Premium Subscriber, use the subscribe function and sign-up.