Bouchard Père & Fils : Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand cru 2019

With fruit sourced from Damoy, the ferment includes about one-third whole clusters and the ageing is done in 50% new oak. The wine is very precise, with a beautiful expression of ripe black cherry fruit, smoke, earth and exotic spices. On the palate, the wine is silky yet intense, with enough structure and extract to age gracefully for decades.

Cask sample. Surprisingly pale garnet. Pretty light nose. Not that representative of this climat. Much lighter than usual. Lots of polished tannin. Almost disconcerting, it's so unlike most Clos de Bèzes! There is admittedly quite a bit of tannin and substantial overall grip on the finish, but not that much weight or fruit on the mid-palate. The Clos de Vougeot seems much more successful to me. Lively and juicy – but Clos de Bèze…? Perhaps I’m being too inflexible and the wine will continue to gain weight and complexity with time. (JR)