This is as cool and restrained as the Clos St. Jacques though the nose is a good deal spicier and more complex with its mélange of floral, pomegranate, tobacco and broad range of red berry fruit scents. There is a really beguiling mix of detail, tension, power and volume to the big-bodied flavors that possess plenty of supporting dry extract on the saline, austere and beautifully balanced finale. I very much like the length but note well that this is not going to be an especially good candidate for early consumption. 2028+

Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting in Beaune, the 2013 Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru from Bruno Clair has a vivacious bouquet with Morello cherry and raspberry, a slightly chocolaty scent deriving from new oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, dark berry fruit that is a little dominated by the wood regime at the moment. It will probably pull through but needs to develop greater substance on the finish to warrant a higher score. Tasted September 2016. - Neal Martin