Domaine Perrot MinotVosne-Romanée 1Cru Les Beaux Monts 2015

Located close to the forest in the upper part of the Premier Cru, this is a marriage of two plots of 45 and 65 years' old. It's quite closed at the moment, with some sappy, reductive notes, but the wine beneath is very impressive indeed: bright and focused, blessed with finegrained tannins and a peppery, clove spicy finish. 2022-30

The 2015 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts Vieilles Vignes has a clean and pure bouquet with ample ripe red cherry, cassis and iodine scents, underneath which lies fine mineralité, even if it will take 4-5 years to really surface. The palate is ripe and poised on the entry. There is a silver thread of acidity here that is neatly interwoven throughout this premier cru, however, it is the precision and the finesse of the tannin that really elevates this wine. It is a sophisticated Les Beaux Monts that could end up offering two decades of pleasure. This is excellent.

Good dark red with ruby highlights. Distinctly dark and brooding on the nose, hinting at black cherry, menthol, violet and crushed rock; the tightest of these 2015s to this point. In a powerful, medicinal style, less sweet and much more backward than the Combe d'Orveaux, with its flavors of black fruits, bitter chocolate and menthol framed by strong salty minerality and a firm spine of dusty tannins. Fine-grained but closed in on itself and not yet expressive, this wine will require patience. Happily, it's not showing the slight funkiness it displayed from barrel.

A wonderfully spicy nose consists of a lovely array of floral elements that add breadth to the pure black pinot fruit scents. I very much like the freshness and sense of underlying tension to the beautifully well-delineated and mineral- driven flavors that display a distinct saline character on the sleek, refined and wonderfully long and balanced finale. This is very classy juice that should repay extended cellaring.