There are eight barrels of Jacques Prieur's 2013 Musigny Grand Cru, of which six barrels are new. Now this fully absorbs the new wood better than the Chambertin, so much so that you barely recognize it. It is well defined with black cherries, boysenberry and wild hedgerow scents - all very natural and refined. The palate is well balanced with succulent ripe tannins, well-judged acidity, the oak a little forward toward the finish, but it is in sync with the fruit and rounds this Musigny out nicely. Predictably, this is the finest red from Jacques Prieur this year. Both proprietor Edouard Labruyère and winemaker Nadine Gublot escorted me through their 2013s at the domaine this year. "Jacques Prieur has 21 hectares of vine," Edouard told me. "We lost 10 hectares to hail in 2014. Much of Volnay, Pommard and Beaune were completely devastated, with damage also inflicted in Meursault and Puligny Combettes. It seems that there is a path from Beaune and Pommard where a storm comes every year. The cannons were aimed to come from the Massif Central, but the storms came from the south. However, it seems to have worked in other places such as the Cote Châlonnais." Edouard mentioned that personally he would like to see some use of protective nets allowed, a view shared by many that I spoke to. "The hail was worse in 2013 than 2012. In 2013, we experienced the same hail damage on 23 July that destroyed 100% of Pommard, a large part of Volnay and to a lesser impact in Beaune. In 2013, we lost 6 hectares out of 21 hectares. Our team went into the vineyard, spraying some products to help the vineyard recover, but whether it has an impact, I am not sure. We treated the vineyard as if nothing happened, in a normal way to protect from mildew, oidium. We started picking 2 October with the Chardonnay, the Pinot Noir four days later finishing with the Volnay Champans on 12 October. Sometimes we use whole bunch, but it was not possible in 2013 because of the quantity." Like other growers with a large portfolio of holdings, not everything worked in 2013, because of the adverse conditions, so you have to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Some of the Volnay wines were disorientated and compromised by the poor flowering and hail damage, while others shrugged it off. Some of the Grand Crus, especially the Chambertin, left something to be desired while Charmes-Chambertin is an absolute gem.