Reviews

Bright purple. Deeply pitched dark berry compote and licorice aromas are complemented by notes of dark chocolate and singed plum. Ripe and broad in the mouth, offering weighty black and blue fruit flavors that show a hint of espresso. Notes of vanilla and fig paste come up with air and carry through a long, clinging finish, which features soft tannins and a touch of heat. This big boy checks in at 15.5% alcohol. (JR)

Deep ruby. Redcurrant and cherry skin aromas show subtle spiciness and a touch of dried herbs. Bright and lively on the palate, offering tangy red fruit flavors and a touch of bitter chocolate. Displays a smoky note, with an echo of medicinal cherry and dusty tannins adding grip. In a taut style, with no easy sweetness or excess fat; I'd like a little more of both, actually.

(15.5% alcohol): Opaque ruby. Heady aromas of candied cherry and plum, with a smoky herbal overtone. Lush and open-knit, offering smooth dark fruit compote flavors that pick up a vanilla accent with air. Finishes on a warm note, with good breadth and lingering sweetness. I'd have liked a bit more vivacity but there's no denying this wine's opulence.

Deep ruby. Pungent dark berry and cherry-cola aromas and flavors, with a smoky note coming out with aeration. The smoky note carries through the modestly persistent finish, which shows a slightly bitter edge and a hint of licorice. I'd have liked more sweetness of fruit here.

A discreet hint of wood only emerges after 30 minutes or so of air along with ripe and somewhat somber wild dark berry fruit aromas that display hints of spice and warm earth. There is good volume but also solid detail to the medium-bodied flavors that possess a suave and supple mouth feel before culminating in a delicious, focused and attractively intense finish. This is not an especially elegant Chambolle villages but there is good complexity and persistence.

Here the nose is quite similar to that of the Beaune with just a bit more elegance as the fruit is slightly higher-toned. The palate impression is, not surprisingly, a bit firmer than that of the Beaune but this too is relatively accessible with slightly better depth and length on the more well-defined finish. This should benefit from a few years in the cellar if desired but it could also be drunk with pleasure now after 30 minutes in a decanter.

Here too there is a discreet hint of wood framing the more elegant and more complex ripe and dark berry fruit suffused nose. There is a lovely mouth feel to the lightly mineral-inflected middle weight flavors that don't quite have the same phenolic ripeness of the villages though the supporting tannins are certainly finer. There is also a noticeable touch of warmth on otherwise clean and agreeably dry if mildly astringent finish. In sum, this is more refined and a bit more complex but the Chardannes is better balanced and pound for pound a better wine.

A ripe and distinctly earthy nose of pretty red pinot fruit leads to middle weight flavors that are very Beaune in style, which is to say round, supple and quite generous, all wrapped in a slightly fruity finish of acceptable depth and length. There is good mid-palate fat which confers a seductive texture onto the palate impression but this is without real distinction. Note that this could already be drunk with pleasure.

There is a hint of reduction present initially though within 5 minutes it had dissipated to reveal earthy and rustic dark berry fruit and pungent earth aromas. The light weight flavors possess good verve and reasonably good detail on the dusty and mildly dry finish that offers just enough depth and length to be interesting.

New oak weaves into the fruit of this wine to create a single line of flavor, carrying through to a salty-sweet finish. Seemingly New World in style, this may gain more expression as it ages.