Maison Louis JadotChambertin Clos de Beze 2016

A concentrated cherry note anchors floral, spice, mineral and tobacco flavors in this muscular red. A core of acidity provides structure and keeps this red focused and energetic. Fine balance and length.

The 2016 Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru has a glorious bouquet with ample red cherry, redcurrant jus, orange pith and blood orange scents all vying for attention (in an orderly fashion!). The palate is very harmonious with supple tannin, well-judged acidity, quite dense with graphite and tobacco interlaced on the structured and sustained finish. It is not up there with the magnificent 2015 but it will give three decades of serious drinking pleasure.

(Jadot made 85% of a normal yield here): Bright, full red. Very ripe, almost liqueur-like aromas of cherry and raspberry enlivened by rose petal, menthol and crushed stone. Compellingly rich and dense but light on its feet; even richer and riper than the Chapelle but still with terrific inner-mouth energy and juicy definition. The intense red berry flavors are complicated by an exotic spicy/herbal element of za´atar. Even more backward than the Chapelle but the tannins are wonderfully refined and the raspberry and spice finish at least as long. (Jadot also has a single purchased barrel of Chambertin, but the wine was too reduced and leathery to assess--not to mention chunky and a bit aggressive following a very late malo.)

The Clos de Bèze was one of the more reticent wines in the cellar when I tasted it in October 2017, opening with a brooding bouquet of dark berries, grilled meat, espresso and new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and powerful, with a deep core of fruit and a chewy chassis of fine-grained, savoury tannins. This shows lots of promise and should be very cellar worthy.Drinking Window 2026 - 2040.

This too displays bourgeon de cassis reduction and plenty of wood influence. More positively, there is a bit more mid-palate concentration to the more refined yet still tautly muscular broad-shouldered flavors that possess slightly better complexity and equally good length on the ever-so-slightly warm finale. Note well that this superb effort is also very firmly structured and is likely to age glacially over many years.